National Access to Decent and Affordable Housing Increased Slightly in 2020

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the percentage of households with access to decent and affordable housing nationally in 2020 increased by 3.03%. In 2019, the percentage of access to decent and affordable housing was 56.51%, increasing to 59.54% in 2020.

Meanwhile, the percentage of access to decent and affordable housing in urban areas was higher than in rural areas, at 63.24% and 54.82%, respectively. In 2020, Yogyakarta was recorded as the province with the highest percentage of access to decent and affordable housing in the country, at 86.19%, followed by Bali Province with 77.05%. The lowest percentage was in Papua, at only 28.56%, followed by Bangka Belitung Islands at 30.64%.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) has stated that decent housing must meet four criteria: sufficient living space of at least 7.2 m² per capita, access to safe drinking water, access to adequate sanitation, and building resilience.

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Diahhadi Setyonaluri, a researcher at the Demography Institute of the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, said that decent housing should also have sufficient space to meet health standards. Examples include good ventilation, a clean bathroom, sufficient bedroom space for movement, and a location close to supporting facilities.

Data from the Ministry of PUPR shows that, until February 2020, there were still 2.5 million Indonesian households living in substandard housing. This means that the issue of substandard housing must be a priority for government improvement.