The signing of flat agreements under the ‘Gedhoruveriyaa’ scheme has been halted.

Some individuals who were notified of receiving flats went to the Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC) on Sunday, only to be told that the signing had been “put on hold".

In addition to not providing any reason for the suspension, those who went were not even given a copy of the agreement that was supposed to be signed.

As FDC has not been answering the station’s phone calls, the reason remains unclear.

In a message sent through the portal to another party scheduled to sign a flat agreement, FDC stated that the signing was put on hold as instructed by the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure. They have also apologized for the inconvenience.

While the signing of flat agreements has been halted, during the presidential election campaign, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had stated that he would not take back the flats given by the former administration and that he would deliver them in an even more complete manner without changing the way they were decided to be given. However, many people have been complaining that the government is acting contrary to what Muizzu said in distributing the flats.

It has been noted that unlike the flats previously issued under social housing schemes, the incumbent administration is issuing flats under a rental agreement.

It has been observed that these flats are apartments that can be owned after paying off to FDC over a 25-year period, similar to how other real estate companies offer long-term payment plans for ownership.

On the other hand, the City Council has announced that it cannot issue resident registrations for flats issued under the scheme.

The current procedure for obtaining a resident registration, as explained by the City Council in a written response to a private party last Thursday, is that when the buyer submits a copy of the agreement made under the "sale and purchase agreement" along with a request for resident registration to the council, a resident registration is issued in the name of the buyer for that property.

While it is noted that the housing schemes issued in the Maldives so far have been social housing unit projects, the most recent social housing scheme in the Maldives, the "Hiyaa" project, had a policy of considering the flat as the personal property of the recipient from the moment of signing the flat agreement.

However, the government has changed the policy.

In addition to this, unlike before, this time flats are being handed over after paying a down payment of MVR 25,000 for the rental apartments.