The grace period for the owners of ‘Hiyaa’ housing units who signed their agreements on September 30, have begun.

According to an announcement by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the grace period for housing units of which the agreements had been signed by September 30, has commenced for the owners from October 1.

This comes as electricity and water have been provided to all towers now and HDC revealed that after the conclusion of the three-month grace period, the authority will begin collecting the installment and management fees from the tenants.

HDC revealed that this is in accordance to Section 8(c) of the Hiyaa housing units’ agreements, which reveals that the grace period will commence when electricity and water services are provided for the towers.

A total of 6,720 housing units have been constructed in Phase II of Hulhumalé, as part of the ‘Hiyaa’ housing scheme.

The current rent of the Hiyaa flats stands at MVR 7,500, with tenants required to pay a fee of MVR 1,000 as a management fee. The loan taken to construct the flats is to be settled within 25 years.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited was tasked with the construction of 16 25-story towers under the “Hiyaa” scheme. An agreement was signed between the state and the company on 20 July 2016, to complete the project within two years. The construction work under the project commenced on 19 December 2017.

The government of Maldives conducted the project after acquiring a loan of USD 434 million.

The project drew public criticism, after photos and videos of what the apartments look like on the inside, began circulating among the people. Some citizens have voiced concern over the additional expenses as well as inadequate spaces at the flats. Recipients of the flats are required to lay tiles, install doors, ceiling fans as well as lights, electrical wiring and TV cables themselves.

A petition making a total of three demands, regarding issues revolving around the ‘Hiyaa’ housing units has been submitted to the People’s Majlis since.

The petition demands for the rent to be reduced to MVR 5,600, extend the period granted for the finishing and furnishing of the flats to 12 months as well as reducing MVR 100,000 from the total rent of the flats. The committee has since decided to meet with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih regarding the petition.