Local authorities in Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, will begin seizing apartments that have been resold and rented in low-cost housing buildings for squatters. 

Colliers International Myanmar says that the concern surrounding these types of apartment transactions highlights the lack of low-cost housing not only in Mandalay but also throughout Myanmar's urban centre.

As a result, informal settlers are found residing on private-owned land, especially on undeveloped industrial land.

The news comes from Mandalay City Development Authority (MCDA) who is working to compile a list of people occupying the buildings along Strand Road in the west of Mandalay city. 

Colliers surmise it would be ideal for developers and officials to determine suitable areas where a larger criterion of tenants can be permitted to reside in.

This should allow the respective ministries and authorities to efficiently maintain and further promote a conducive business arrangements going forward.

Low-cost housing along Strand Road is notorious for being a hotspot for unsavoury activities and the MCDA has said that many of the original renters of these apartments are no longer staying there. 

Colliers also reveal that in 2015, the authority built 22 six-story apartment buildings, with each story comprising 12 units to assist in accommodating people squatting along the Ayeyarwady River. 

Source: Colliers International Myanmar, Myanmar Times

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