Around 600,000 Sri Lankans still lack secure housing, minister says

Around 600,000 people in Sri Lanka still do not have access to secure or semi-permanent housing, Housing, Construction and Water Supply Minister Dr Susil Ranasinghe said on Wednesday.

Citing data collected by the Department of Census and Statistics in December 2024, Ranasinghe said Sri Lanka had around 6.1 million families.

To address the housing shortage, the government has launched a special programme covering 31,000 houses.

Under the first phase, 19,000 houses will either be newly built or existing houses will be renovated. Of these, around 12,000 new houses are expected to be constructed entirely with government assistance, while the remainder will be supported through concessionary loan schemes.

Ranasinghe said work on around 20,000 houses was now nearing completion. Some had originally been started under the Urban Development Authority and had since been completed, while others were under construction using funds allocated this year and were expected to be finished next year.

He said the 31,000-house programme did not include separate concessionary housing loan schemes available to public servants and Sri Lankans employed overseas.

The government expects to open more than 5,000 houses on 5 October, Ranasinghe added.