The apartment market in Indonesia is feeling the pressure as demand weakens and public interest in vertical housing fades. Developers believe the main reason behind this decline is the high service charge or environmental maintenance fee (IPL) that residents must pay.
Chairman of the Real Estate Indonesia (REI) Supervisory Board, Paulus Totok Lusida, has urged for immediate adjustments to make apartment living more accessible. He proposed that service charges for apartments priced under Rp1 billion should be reduced so that middle- and lower-income families can afford them.
“The goal is to encourage middle-income families to buy and live in apartments. We hope there will be a solution regarding the service charge rates for lower-middle apartments,” Totok Lusida said, as quoted by CNBC Indonesia on Wednesday (Nov 5, 2025).
According to him, setting the service charge between Rp12,000 and Rp14,000 per square meter could help revive the stagnant apartment market in Indonesia. Currently, high IPL fees have become an added burden for residents, particularly at a time when many households are still struggling with economic pressures.
Supporting this view, REI Honorary Chairman Soelaeman Soemawinata described the high cost of living in apartments as one of the biggest obstacles to market recovery. “Besides the expensive service charge, daily living costs in apartments, such as clean water and electricity, are charged at commercial rates. This isn’t fair and should be converted to residential tariffs,” he said.
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Soelaeman noted that these policies make living in apartments far more expensive than owning landed houses. Yet, he emphasized that if both pricing and management costs could be reduced, vertical housing could serve as a vital solution for urban challenges, including overcrowding and limited land availability.
He also called on the government to give greater attention to the apartment market, which has been struggling for years. “If more people are encouraged to live in apartments, it could help solve problems like traffic congestion and fuel waste,” he added.
As the call for change grows louder, both developers and policymakers face mounting pressure to balance affordability and sustainability — ensuring that apartment living in Indonesia becomes not just a luxury, but a practical housing option for all.
