The Government presented the Emergency Housing Plan with the challenge of building 260,000 houses over the next four years

This afternoon the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, together with the Housing and Urban Development Minister, Carlos Montes, and the Portfolio Undersecretary, Tatiana Rojas, presented the “Emergency Housing Plan”. This strategy, developed by Minvu (Housing and Urban Development Ministry) to urgently address the housing deficit in Chile, forms part of the latest Social and Urban Integration Law, approved by Congress last March. Its objectives include recovering the State’s central role in housing planning and management and building 260,000 houses during this Government’s term, which would cover at least 40% of this housing requirement.

The presentation was held at La Moneda Palace and was attended by various government authorities and housing committee representatives from several municipalities in the Metropolitan Region.

President Boric emphasized the significance of the plan because “this Emergency Housing Plan must be seen as State policy. This is not something that one government or another can simply boast about because it is much more far-reaching.” He added that “it is time for us to focus on solutions, not replacing but working hand in hand with residents, with workers, with the public and private sectors to find a solution to this tremendous challenge that our Government has taken on.”

Minister Carlos Montes indicated that “this plan aims to strengthen various instruments, the right to decent housing with clear options, which includes a gender focus, decentralization, participation, planning and public-private partnership.” He added that “we deeply appreciate that the right to decent housing and the right to the city have been proposed in the new Constitution. This is a different way to understand society. However, we cannot wait for this to go into effect, we have to act now. This is our conviction, which is the moral foundation for a free and democratic people.”

Undersecretary Tatiana Rojas mentioned that “the Emergency Housing Plan has been organized in collaboration with ministerial teams and especially in conjunction with all the regions of Chile. We have reflected together on the national and regional housing deficit and analyzed each municipality. Involving all the regions of Chile was important in building a relevant plan, because the idea is that when we subsequently implement this plan, it will make sense to all the communities where it will be implemented.

Key points of the Emergency Housing Plan

The Emergency Housing Plan aims to fulfill the mission that President Boric entrusted to Minvu to overcome unequal access to good quality housing. The key points are listed below:

• Recover the State’s role in housing planning and management
• Build 260,000 houses during the government’s term of office
• Promote projects in all the country’s municipalities and ensure social facilities are included
• Strengthen the Public Land Bank
• Diversify types of access to housing, such as self-management and cooperatives, and promote fair-price rentals
• Develop direct relationships with residents and local governments
• Develop more efficient, modern and sustainable construction processes for homes

It also responds to more recent phenomena in housing demand and the lifestyles of Chilean residents, such as housing mobility and high rental values. It diversifies access to housing and its tenure, and it includes measures that respond to informal housing, overcrowding, isolation, encampments, the need for protection and prolonged wait lists for housing in the case of committees. It also received proposals from regional governments and municipalities, which ensured that its objectives are relevant.

The Emergency Housing Plan defines annual objectives by region and municipality and establishes mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating progress, which will be regularly reported to Congress.

Minister Montes referred to the urban housing policies in the plan when he mentioned that “the State’s role is irreplaceable, which is corroborated every time we see the speculation that surrounds land values in large metropolitan areas. Here we need determination and political will to build social housing, because insecurity and segregation damage our community life.” Although the Emergency Housing Plan significantly addresses Chile’s housing requirements, he also mentioned that “this solution cannot immediately reach everyone, but we can begin today and we can define the path that will take us forward.”

The priority during implementation is to improve coordination between government agencies and different sectors of society, in order to work together to achieve these objectives. In particular, Minvu will coordinate with other state administrative bodies, municipalities and regional governments, and it will streamline processes and improve their effectiveness. It will also prioritize processing with private organizations, including sanitary, electricity and gas utilities.

There are approximately 80,000 families living in encampments, and the plan includes measures specifically aimed at helping them through the “Construyendo Barrios” (Building Neighborhoods) program. This will address 300 encampments or irregular urban settlements that are being rectified, which will regulate and urbanize them, to the benefit of approximately 25,000 families.

Housing demand and objectives by region

Minvu estimates that the projected housing demand in Chile for 2022 is 643,534 houses, based on data from the 2017 Census and the current 80,000 families living in encampments. The plan will address at least 40% of these housing requirements, concentrated mainly in the Metropolitan Region which contains around 40% of the national shortage, followed by the Valparaíso and Biobío Regions.