Shania Shayal Prasad 
The cost of housing development in the country is rising, and alongside it, the availability of land is becoming scarce.
These two issues are making housing affordability a significant challenge.
Minister for Housing, Maciu Nalumisa, says that the price of building homes has steadily increased, making it more difficult for average Fijians to afford their own property.
He says the rising costs are largely driven by economic factors that are outside of the government’s control.
“So what we’re trying to encourage now is to look at some of the new ways, innovative ways of construction, house construction. Before, if you look at two bedrooms, it takes months to complete. So that also increases the cost of construction.”
Nalumisa says the government’s housing initiatives, such as the provision of affordable land and financing options for Fijians, are attempts to address these issues.
“So that if we want to address affordability, then we need to look at the manufacturing side of it as well as the financing of those two aspects of development.”
The government recently launched the National Housing Policy 2025–2030, aiming to improve access to affordable and adequate housing.
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