Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Muthalib states that enabling married couples to receive housing separately goes against the best utilization of state resources in consideration of the future.
The government opened applications for land and flats under its ‘Emmenah Boahiyaavahikan’ policy, which translates to 'Housing for All' on Sunday morning, with plans to issue 7,900 flats and 15,000 land plots from Male’ area to address the housing needs across various income groups.
This has prompted complaints from some individuals who argue it is unfair for married couples to be entitled to a single housing option, as divorce would result in one party retaining the property.
Minister Muthalib addressed these concerns during a program broadcasted by state media, PSM.
In this regard, the Minister noted that while divorce is a possible future outcome, social policies must be based on the family’s current circumstances.
“In reality, it is not the best utilization of state resources to enable married couples to receive separate housing based on a possible outcome in the future,” he said.
The Minister added that demand for housing arising from within a family, adding social housing schemes must focus on protecting these families.
He stressed that proper housing is necessary to ensure future generations grow up healthy.
Minister Muthalib said the government’s housing policy is specifically structured around families to prevent exclusion, emphasizing that it seeks to ensure limited state resources are directed toward those most in need.
Housing is one of the most prominent issues in the Maldives, especially in Male’ area where people are charged extremely high rent.
The housing crisis has also been linked to multiple other social issues, such as low birth rates and rising aging population. 
Notably, the current administration allocated a record MVR 1.8 billion for housing projects in the 2025 state budget which was dubbed as a “housing-centric” budget. However, statistics published by the Finance Ministry show that 89 percent of the funds earmarked for housing in last year’s state budget were left untouched. In this regard, only MVR 204.5 million of the record housing budget was utilized, accounting for 11 percent.