# 2021: A poll finds few Maldivians want one-bedroom flats

> In February 2021 a Maldives Opinion Network poll of 2,000 people found 72.5 per cent preferred a three-bedroom flat and 7.5 per cent a one-bedroom. The state's next large scheme, 4,000 flats in Hulhumalé Phase 2, was built with two and three bedrooms only.

Source: Maldives Real Estate News, published by Binga Properties. URL: https://news.binga.mv/2021-one-bedroom-flats-poll
Published: 2026-09-25T07:26:39.904Z · Updated: 2026-09-25T07:26:39.904Z · Event date: 2021-02-25

In late February 2021, as parliament argued over the one-room flats dropped from the Hiyaa housing scheme, a poll asked the question underneath the row: what size of home do people actually want? The Maldives Opinion Network surveyed 2,000 people and found that 72.5 per cent preferred a three-bedroom apartment, 20 per cent a two-bedroom and only 7.5 per cent a one-bedroom. Corporate Maldives, which published the results, asked whether scarce public money should go into one-bedroom flats at all. The state's next large scheme answered in the same direction.

## What was published

The article, relayed by the Boahiyaa site on 25 February 2021, framed the issue simply. Apartment buildings are the most efficient way to house many people on little land, but the number of bedrooms in each flat decides whom a building can serve. The poll offered three choices, and the result was lopsided: nearly three in four respondents wanted three bedrooms. The authors suggested that, with demand for one-bedroom homes that low, resources were better spent on larger units that suit families.

The desk has not seen the poll's method, so its sample should be read as indicative rather than as a formal survey of all households.

## The context

The timing mattered. A week earlier the housing ministry had removed three categories of Hiyaa applicants, including newly married couples, who were to receive one-room flats, saying not enough had been built. The decision was unpopular with the couples who lost their place, and parliament asked the government to account for the flats.

The poll pointed somewhere else: most respondents were evidently thinking of homes for families, for whom a one-room flat is at best a first step. The Hiyaa scheme's main towers had offered two-bedroom flats of about 573 square feet; critics called them cramped even with two bedrooms.

## What happened next

**Gedhoruveriya.** The government's next major scheme, launched in June 2022, offered 4,000 flats in Hulhumalé Phase 2 built by the Indian contractors NBCC and JMC Projects: 2,800 three-bedroom flats of about 900 square feet and 1,200 two-bedroom flats of about 650 square feet, with no one-bedroom units. Applicants voted with their forms: 14,489 applied for three bedrooms and 6,208 for two. Keys were handed over from September 2025.

**Company towers.** The one-room flats that were built under Hiyaa went mainly to employees of the state companies that built them, such as STELCO, which handed 72 one-room flats to staff in August 2022.

**2026.** When the Construction Ministry invited developers in July 2026 to build 2,100 affordable homes on 13 atoll islands, it required at least 60 per cent of units to be three-bedroom flats of 900 square feet.

## What it means now

The preference the poll recorded is still visible in the market. In Greater Malé, three-bedroom flats are the homes families compete for, in state schemes and in private rentals alike. One-bedroom and studio homes serve a narrower group: couples, single professionals and people relocating for work, often on shorter lets. For owners deciding how to configure or furnish a flat, and for buyers weighing a smaller unit as an investment, the depth of demand at each size matters as much as the price. The desk's guide to [what rent costs in Greater Malé](/what-rent-costs-in-greater-male) sets out the current bands by size.

## Sources
- boahiyaa.com/do-we-really-need-to-develop-more-one-bedroom-apartments/ (Boahiyaa archive, 25 Feb 2021: relaying Corporate Maldives on the Maldives Opinion Network poll of 2,000 people on preferred flat size) (https://boahiyaa.com/do-we-really-need-to-develop-more-one-bedroom-apartments/ (Boahiyaa archive, 25 Feb 2021: relaying Corporate Maldives on the Maldives Opinion Network poll of 2,000 people on preferred flat size))
- corporatemaldives.com/do-we-really-need-to-develop-more-one-bedroom-apartments/ (25 Feb 2021: results, 7.5% one-bedroom, 20% two-bedroom, 72.5% three-bedroom) (https://corporatemaldives.com/do-we-really-need-to-develop-more-one-bedroom-apartments/ (25 Feb 2021: results, 7.5% one-bedroom, 20% two-bedroom, 72.5% three-bedroom))
- timesofaddu.com/2021/02/19/3-categories-removed-from-hiyaa-project/ (19 Feb 2021: one-room categories removed from the Hiyaa scheme) (https://timesofaddu.com/2021/02/19/3-categories-removed-from-hiyaa-project/ (19 Feb 2021: one-room categories removed from the Hiyaa scheme))
- atolltimes.mv/post/news/4957 (8 Aug 2023: Gedhoruveriya scheme, 1,200 two-bedroom flats of 650 sq ft and 2,800 three-bedroom flats of 900 sq ft; 14,489 applications for three-bedroom and 6,208 for two-bedroom) (https://atolltimes.mv/post/news/4957 (8 Aug 2023: Gedhoruveriya scheme, 1,200 two-bedroom flats of 650 sq ft and 2,800 three-bedroom flats of 900 sq ft; 14,489 applications for three-bedroom and 6,208 for two-bedroom))
- adhadhu.com/84486 (19 Jul 2026: 2026 affordable housing tender requires 60% of units to be three-bedroom flats of 900 sq ft) (https://adhadhu.com/84486 (19 Jul 2026: 2026 affordable housing tender requires 60% of units to be three-bedroom flats of 900 sq ft))
- see.mv/76620 (6 Aug 2022: STELCO staff towers include 72 one-room flats) (https://see.mv/76620 (6 Aug 2022: STELCO staff towers include 72 one-room flats))
- maldivesindependent.com/explainer/making-sense-of-mals-social-housing-crisis-6bd8 (Gedhoruveriya scheme launched 26 Jun 2022) (https://maldivesindependent.com/explainer/making-sense-of-mals-social-housing-crisis-6bd8 (Gedhoruveriya scheme launched 26 Jun 2022))
- edition.mv/hdc/17473 (25 Jun 2020: Hiyaa two-bedroom flats of about 573 sq ft) (https://edition.mv/hdc/17473 (25 Jun 2020: Hiyaa two-bedroom flats of about 573 sq ft))
- en.sun.mv/99638 (5 Oct 2025: Gedhoruveriya key handover under way) (https://en.sun.mv/99638 (5 Oct 2025: Gedhoruveriya key handover under way))

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