Decades in the queue: the housing lottery Malé residents can't win

He's still renting, still applying, still waiting for housing.

The elderly man’s story – shared during President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s community meeting with residents of Galolhu on December 16 – echoed the most common refrain at the town halls across all six wards of Malé: the long wait for a place to call home in the congested capital.

Mohamed Moosa spared the room no detail: the tube inserted near his infant's navel, the bag of stool he carried to the airport. 

The first of his seven children was born with an anorectal malformation, requiring multiple surgeries in Sri Lanka. Moosa begged for money, sold assets, and shuttled back and forth for life-saving treatment. During one of these medical emergencies, Moosa heard a radio announcement about land plots to be awarded from Hulhumalé. He entered a draw at the national stadium and won. But the lottery win came the evening before a flight to Colombo for his firstborn's next surgery.

The following day, Moosa carried his child to the government offices, trailing the bag of his infant's stool. He pleaded with officials to help him secure the plot, explaining his situation and stressing that his flight was at 2pm. But they refused to help him write a letter. 

"I wept and wept, begged them but they did not relent and sent off this uncle," Moosa recalled through sobs.

The deadline to secure the plot would pass while he was in Sri Lanka saving his child's life. Upon his return, Moosa sold off his assets and went to collect his plot of land. He presented a doctor's letter. But the officials told him: "vauguthu faaithuvejje" – the time has passed.

Moosa questioned what the real criteria for housing should be: "Shouldn't the condition be this? It's a child's life that I saved."

He said his land plot has been held back ever since, and he still has the documents to prove it. He has since moved with his children and two grandchildren from room to room, struggling to pay between MVR 12,000 and MVR 40,000 (US$ 780 and US$ 2,600) as monthly rent.

Moosa has been living in the capital since the 60s. He has now been on the special municipality registry (dhaftharu) for 40 years.

"Mihaaru kiriya kolhah hurevey kan mi beybe gandah" – I can barely stand now, he told the silenced hall.

After listening to complaints and grievances for nearly three hours, the majority of which concerned social housing schemes under successive administrations, President Muizzu said he understood the pain and anger.

"The housing issue is very critical. Most people are living in dire situations. So it will get emotional. I understand. I understand these things fully, the frustrations and everything," he said.

Under the previous government's Gedhoruveriya scheme, applicants were scored on criteria including years of residency, living conditions, and family circumstances. The threshold for eligibility was 73 points for two-bedroom flats and 75 for three-bedroom units. About 15,000 people were deemed eligible and nearly 5,000 (including co-applicants) were shortlisted for the first 4,000 flats under construction at the time. 

Muizzu denied unfairly distributing the flats in Hulhumalé. The established point system had been followed without changes, he insisted. 

More than two years into his term, Muizzu's government is now preparing to allocate 15,000 plots and 7,900 flats in the Greater Malé area under its "Housing for All" scheme – none of which have been built yet. Applications open on January 15. The new policy, gazetted in late December following the town hall meetings, divides applicants into two tiers: Malé-registered residents can apply for plots across Hulhumalé, Gulhifalhu, Giraavaru, and the flagship Rasmalé "eco-city," while residents from other islands who have lived in the capital for 15 years can only apply for Rasmalé. For now, the homes exist only on paper – some on unreclaimed lagoons.

Briefing the press last week, Housing Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib explained that the planned flats include 3,000 to be built under a Bank of Maldives project, 4,000 financed by a line of credit from India, with the rest to be built under "bilateral arrangements". In addition to these, the government plans to incentivise private developers with free plots to build 5,000 affordable housing units. 

"We're targeting completing these 12,000 flats by the end of this term, during the three years left," he said. Regardless of the construction speed, the flats and plots will be allocated and agreements will be signed by the end of 2028, he assured.

When journalists pointed out the underutilisation of the MVR 1.8 billion (US$ 116.7 million) allocated for housing projects in the 2025 budget – only MVR 196.9 million of which had been spent by December 18 – Muththalib pushed back by claiming to have completed 68 percent of the Fahi Dhiriulhun 4,000 flats  whose construction began during the previous administration, in addition to the installation of water, sewerage and electricity as well as landscaping. The government has also completed three housing projects outside of Malé while 13 projects are ongoing on other islands and 25 projects were awarded during 2025, he said.

"What you're only seeing is no big project starting in the Malé area. But this government is carrying out construction of flats on other islands in the country as never before," he said. 

In a New Year message earlier this week, Muththalib acknowledged "the scale of expectation and the urgency involved" in Malé's housing crisis.

"The first challenge was unavoidable: sorting out the Gedhoruveriyaa flat list, resolving long-pending issues, and handing over homes to families who had been waiting to move in. I am pleased to say that all signed housing units are now being handed over, with the remaining completions taking place this month," he wrote.

"Issues inherited under the Binveriya Scheme are also being addressed, including reclamation works, land-use plans, and the issuance of registries."

The government's efforts towards "fixing systems – not just symptoms" in 2025 included a five percent profit-rate home construction loan with close to MVR 1 billion approved, and signed contracts for over 800 units across 13 islands under a contractor-financed model alongside 25 budget-financed projects totalling more than 4,800 units nationwide, the housing minister said.

Like Mohamed Moosa, many Malé residents at the president's town hall meetings described decades in the housing queue with nothing to show for it. 

Abdulla Rashad, a migrant from Gaaf Dhaalu Gaddhoo who has lived in Malé for about 40 years with his three children, was among many who has applied for every scheme. He said he has rented eight different houses in the capital.

"I've just never been able to get it [social housing]. They always say you don't meet the criteria," he said.

A single mother of four named Shareefa Abdulla Haleem said she received 81 points and was chosen among the recipients. Despite signing an agreement letter, she was later disqualified over the purported failure to prove uninterrupted residency. But people who arrived in Malé four years ago were recorded as having lived here for 15 years and awarded housing ahead of her, she complained.

"I am someone who has no housing to go to in this big place. And I have no housing even on the [other] islands," she said, pleading directly with the housing minister.

A resident of Malé for 30 years, Shehenaz Adam said she has applied over the past 15 years since President Mohamed Nasheed's administration. She was awarded 81 points but no housing. For the latest scheme, she and her husband applied separately, scored 72 marks, and had officials visit twice to assess their living situation.

"I had a lot of hope, however, countless people who did not meet the criteria had entered the list in many ways, through different MPs and different influential people, and we lost that opportunity," she said.

Others noted that eligibility conditions shift between schemes. Children counted as minors in one application grow up by the next, changing a family's score.

A disabled woman with three children said she was declared ineligible with points deducted. She questioned how her situation could be properly assessed. No official visited her home, she said. Instead, she received a phone call during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

"Can you dress? Can you eat? Can you sleep? Can you shower?" the caller asked, then hung up. "When you see me now you know only half of me is fine, so I am questioning, how am I ineligible?" she asked. Her grown children still have to sleep beside her. "Even we will feel shame," she added.

A woman named Leesha pointed to a catch-22 in the assessment process: officials evaluate applicants at their rented accommodation.

"We are receiving a box of 10 feet to 12 feet. If we want to live a dignified life with children, we have to rent with the entire salary of one person. After assessing where we rent to live, the criteria is not met," she said.

"I will not say anything while begging. This is something you pledged," she told the president. She urged the government not to use residents' circumstances as "a marketing tool for each campaign."

Sameera Ibrahim described how Malé households divide inherited plots among 10 to 12 family members. The resulting blocks often lack ventilation, circulation, or daylight. She received 263 square feet when her father's plot was carved up. Exhaust fumes from nearby restaurants enter directly into her home, she said.

Despite her father and her children's father both hailing from the capital, she was declared ineligible for housing, Sameera said. 

Aminath Iraasha said the MVR 25,000 downpayment for the new flats was out of reach. The MVR 10,500 monthly payment for three-bedroom flats was also higher than any previous social housing scheme while most people earn a monthly income of MVR 12,000 to MVR 13,000, she said, which leaves barely enough to survive after rent and children's expenses.

"I cannot bear to put my name in the poverty list and pay the MVR 25,000. But even I, truly, am struggling to pay the MVR 25,000, and the additional MVR 10,500 is a large amount," she said.

Muizzu pledged to look into whether the downpayment could be waived or restructured into monthly payments.

Residents of the Sinamalé and Malé Hiya flats built three decades ago meanwhile complained of deteriorating structures – flooding, broken elevators, no maintenance – and fines for unpaid rent. Muizzu said he was shocked by the fines – which he claimed to have written off during his tenure as mayor – and blamed the Malé City Council, asking Deputy Mayor Mohamed Areesh to take up the issue.

Several people raised concerns about the pace of land reclamation and the years that urban development on manmade islands would take. Lists may be drawn up, but without land ready or construction underway, the promised plots and flats remain on paper – and families like Moosa's remain in the queue.