HLURB is the government agency mandated to provide assistance to local government units in the preparation and approval of their comprehensive land use plans (CLUPs), regulate housing, land use development and homeowners associations. It also adjudicates cases pertaining real estate management, zoning, and homeowners associations disputes.
However, by virtue of Republic Act 11201, effective January 1, 2020, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board have been reconstituted to the newly created Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD). DHSUD assumes the functions of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and HLURB except for adjudication or handling disputes which has been delegated to Human Settlement Adjudication Commission (HSAC).
Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD)
DHSUD Act as the primary national government entity responsible for the management of housing, human settlement and urban development;
Be the sole and main planning and policy-making, regulatory, program coordination, and performance monitoring entity for all housing, human settlement and urban development concerns, primarily focusing on the access to and the affordability of basic human needs. For this purpose, in accordance with Section 25 of the Act, the following functions of HLURB are hereby transferred to the Department:
The land use planning and monitoring function, including the imposition of penalties for noncompliance to ensure that LGUs will follow the planning guidelines and implement their CLUPs (Comprehensive Land Use Plan) and ZOs (Zone Ordinance);
The regulatory function, including the formulation, promulgation, and enforcement of rules, standards and guidelines over subdivisions, condominiums and similar real estate developments, and imposition of fines and other administrative sanctions for violations, pursuant to PD 957, as amended, BP 220 and other related laws; and
The registration, regulation and supervision of HOAs, including the imposition of fines for violations, pursuant to RA 9904, Section 26 of RA 8763 in relation to Executive Order No. (EO) 535, series of 1979, and other related laws; and develop and adopt a national strategy to immediately address the provision of adequate and affordable housing to all Filipinos, and ensure the alignment of the policies, programs, and projects of all its attached agencies to facilitate the achievement of this objective.
Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and Zoning Ordinances (ZO)
The CLUP is a planning document prepared by Local Government Units to rationalize the allocation and proper use of land resources. It projects public and private land uses in accordance with the future spatial organization of economic and social activities.
Under the Local Government Code of 1991 and other pertinent laws, all Local Government Units are mandated to continue to prepare/revise/update their comprehensive land use plan which shall be enacted through a zoning ordinance.
Zoning is the division of a city/municipality into zones or sub-zones (e.g. commercial,
residential, industrial, institutional, agricultural, forest, etc.) according to present and
potential uses of land to maximize, regulate and direct their use and development
in accordance with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
Zoning Ordinance provides, among others, regulations affecting uses allowed or
disallowed in each zone or sub-zone, conditions for allowing them, and procedures on
evaluating deviations.
Zoning is concerned primarily with the use of land and the regulation of development
through imposition of building heights, bulk, open space, and density provisions in a
given area.
The benefits attributed to zoning are as follows:
1. Optimized use of land based on, among others, suitability and capability, e.g.
use of prime agricultural land for agricultural purposes and high value areas for
intense urban developments.
2. Promotion of public health and safety through compatible arrangement of
various land uses, e.g. buffering between residential and industrial zones and
through standards for environmental protection and conservation.
3. Preservation of desirable character and real estate values of the zone or subzone through standards intended to facilitate high quality and appropriate
developments.
4. Promotion of the rational and orderly growth of the city/municipality by
employing a system that allows the adequate evaluation of development proposals in both public and private lands.
Human Settlement Adjudication Commission (HSAC)
The HSAC is a quasi-judicial body, reconstituted from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) by virtue of Republic Act No. 11201, tasked to adjudicate disputes relating to Real Estate Developments, Homeowners Associations, and Local and Regional Planning and Zoning.
In the performance of its functions, the HSAC is guided by the Constitutional provision that affords all persons the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative bodies.
The HSAC is attached to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development for policy, planning and program coordination only.
The HSAC, under R.A. No. 11201, is conferred with the following powers and authorities:
To promulgate rules and regulations governing the hearing and disposition of cases before it and its Adjudicators, as well as those necessary to carry out its functions;
To administer oaths, summon the parties to a controversy, issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the production of such books, papers, contracts, records, statements of accounts, agreements, and others as may be material to a just determination of the case;
To hold any person in contempt directly or indirectly and impose appropriate penalties therefore in accordance with law;
To enjoin or restrain, after due notice and hearing, any actual or threatened commission of any or all prohibited or unlawful acts or to require the performance of a particular act in any dispute within its jurisdiction;
To exercise such other powers as are implied and necessary, or incidental to carry out the express powers granted to the commission.
Jurisdiction:
REGIONAL ADJUDICATORS – ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OVER:
Cases involving subdivisions, condominiums, memorial parks and similar real estate developments;
Cases involving Homeowners Associations;
Disputes involving the implementation of Section 18 of RA 7279, as amended by RA 10884, and its implementing rules and regulations;
Disputes or controversies involving laws and regulations being implemented by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, except those cases falling within the jurisdiction of other judicial or quasi-judicial bodies.
COMMISSION – EXCLUSIVE APPELLATE JURISDICTION OVER:
All cases decided by the Regional Adjudicators; and
Appeals from decisions of local and regional planning and zoning bodies.
Resources:
https://hlurb.gov.ph/
https://dhsud.gov.ph/
http://www.region6.dilg.gov.ph/
https://lcp.org.ph/
https://hsac.gov.ph/