Lower construction costs could open the door for greater access to affordable housing in Myanmar, according to Colliers International.

Myanmar Business Today reports the Chief Minister for Yangon U Phyo Min Thein used a monthly meeting between Vice President of Myanmar and local business at UMFCCI on February 22 to encourage housing developers to sell homes for less.

According to MBT, Mr Thein also said there needed to build high-rise buildings instead of low-rise buildings, which provide fewer apartments.

However, developers have told MBT constructing high-rise building increases construction costs, making them unable to sell their homes at lower prices.

Colliers International said while there was merit in the Minister's argument, lower construction costs were central to creating more affordable housing.

"Lower construction cost would mean more competitive price for both high-end and low-end buildings, and that, as a result, could attract even more interest from both developers and customers," it said.

"Hence, we recommend emboldening the domestic production of various construction materials by giving incentives in the form of tax exemption for manufacturing of construction materials to keep up with the demand from the country’s growing need of new buildings."

Sources: Myanmar Business Today, Colliers International

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