Many Fijians are selling undeveloped land rather than build on it because the process of getting approvals and completing a home has become too onerous, Housing Authority of Fiji chief executive Isikeli Navuda says — prompting the authority to change course from constructing ready-made houses to developing serviced residential lots and reintroducing model homes for the first time in 30 years.
Navuda told reporters the shift to serviced lots is intended to give low- and middle-income families flexibility to “build according to their finances and timeline.” But he warned the move has been driven in part by people abandoning building plans altogether after repeated delays and complex approval requirements. “Some do not build due to difficulty with obtaining building plan approval and the hassle associated with securing engineering and statutory approvals. Many sell their land to whoever pays the highest price, defeating our initiative to help low- to middle-income earners,” he said.
As part of the new approach the Housing Authority plans to reintroduce model homes, starting with two-bedroom designs and later adding three-bedroom homes and row houses. Navuda said the homes will be targeted at families earning $50,024 and below — a threshold the authority is using to focus assistance on lower- and middle-income households struggling to move from land ownership to completed housing.
Real estate expert Vyas Deo Sharma echoed the authority’s concerns about red tape, saying the length and complexity of approval processes discourage people from building their own homes and push them towards buying completed houses instead. “The waiting period for getting a building plan approved by the approved authorities takes so much time,” Sharma said. “It is a hassle and people have to go from Point A, to B, to C and D then back to A for one single approval. That’s why people would rather buy a house. But when they buy a house, they want to get a return on their investment. So, they put it up for rent and you see the rent prices going up because not only are they buying houses in prime locations, they also want to repay their loans.”
The Housing Authority’s repositioning follows earlier moves to expand land development and affordability measures. In September 2025 the authority’s board approved additional borrowing to accelerate a slate of housing developments, and government ministers have publicly committed to offering cheaper lots and increasing affordable options on developing sites. The new emphasis on serviced lots and standardised model homes represents a tactical pivot away from delivering finished houses directly — a response to both bureaucratic obstacles and market behaviour that has seen bare land sold on rather than developed.
Officials say the model-home rollout aims to simplify choices for buyers and shorten construction timelines, but experts warn the underlying approval and regulatory bottlenecks must be addressed if the plans are to reduce housing shortages and ease rental pressures. Sharma described the situation as a “never-ending cycle” unless the multiple layers of statutory and engineering clearances are streamlined to make on-site building viable again.
The Housing Authority will begin implementing the two-bedroom model homes first, with plans to introduce three-bedroom units and row houses thereafter. How quickly those models will translate into completed homes on serviced lots will depend on whether the planning and approval system that Navuda and others criticise can be sped up to match the authority’s revised development strategy.
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