About Us
“ In order for democracy to flourish and take unshakable root in our small landlocked nation, my hope is that every single citizen will have the opportunity to own a home of his or her own, and become an equal partner in, and beneficiary of , the nation’s progress and growth”.
His Majesty the 5th Druk Gyelpo
The desire for an affordable and a comfortable shelter is every person’s dream. We all work for our daily bread but shed that extra sweat for the security of a roof over our head and those of our children.
The importance of providing adequate and appropriate shelter was well recognized by the Royal Government as far back as the 1960s when housing for civil servants became one of the first public structures that dotted the newly established Thimphu town. The importance of housing as a basic human need was further enhanced with the establishment of the National Urban Development Corporation (NUDC) in the early 1980s through which, activities related to research and development of innovative construction technologies, (limited study on) housing needs assessment, management initiatives on urban land and public housing facilities had been pursued. While some progress has been achieved in building awareness in appropriate construction technology and providing an overview of housing development policies, success in real terms have not been significant primarily for lack of resources, required experiences in the field and the existence of a number of other urgent competing development priorities at the time. However with the unprecedented growth of our urban centers, the demand for housing in most of these areas have increased by many folds. The study on housing requirement for the 5 year period between 2000-2005 for Thimphu, Phuntsholing and 6 other major towns stood close to 6500 units. This shortfall in supply can best be measured in terms of rapid rent escalation and over-crowding of the available units. Unless the supply of housing meets the growing demands, house rents will continue to increase leading to deterioration of housing conditions and quality of life especially for the lower income groups.
To resolve the growing problems of housing in the country and as shelter is one of the most important components in enhancing our Country’s vision of Gross National Happiness, the Royal Government had developed the National Housing Policy in 2002 and subsequently established the National Housing Development Corporation in September 2003 as the apex body responsible for the development, management and promotion of housing facilities in the Country, while there are a lot of grounds to cover, the NHDC within its short existence has already added more than 1000 units (largely for the low income groups) of housing stock in the market besides streamlining the overall maintenance and allotment procedures of public housing facilities. With its mission of “basic shelter for all’, the NHDC will continue to pursue and resolve housing related problems in the country through the following key policy objectives;
- Provide safe, basic and affordable housing
- Promote home ownership
- Promote transparent and well functioning housing market
The guiding principle for the promotion of ‘basic shelter for all’ has been based on the following socio-economic values;
- Shelter constitutes a basic human requirement
- Addition to the Country’s housing stock is an increase to National Wealth
- Adequate and appropriate housing would provide potential benefits in terms of improved health, higher productivity and better living environment. Home ownership in particular is one of the best ways to reduce urban poverty through enhanced income generation by way of rental incomes, capital appreciation and enabling streams of other income generating services.
- Equitable access to safe and affordable housing would directly contribute towards overall policy of poverty alleviation, regional balance and thus enhancing GNH.
Given the overall benefits of housing, the NHDC is not only committed but confident of fulfilling the required objectives of our visionary Kings and leaders. It therefore places its absolute hope and aspiration for an unwavering support our benefactors in building a better tomorrow for the lesser privileged citizens of our country.