With the presence of the president, Luis Lacalle Pou, the Minister of Housing and Territorial Planning, Irene Moreira, presented the program Entre Todos, Sueños en Obra. The objective of the initiative is to facilitate access to their own homes for people who do not have previous savings. For this, the option of renting with the option to buy will be promoted and new construction methods will be promoted throughout the country.
The activity, this August 4, was also attended by the Undersecretary of Housing and Territorial Planning, Tabaré Hackenbruch; the president of the Technical Assessment and Advisory Commission, Eduardo González, and the national director of Housing, Jorge Ceretta.
The program involves public-private participation, to facilitate access to a home of their own for people in a low, medium-low and medium socioeconomic situation; it also encourages construction innovations throughout the country.
To evaluate the projects presented, the Technical Evaluation and Advisory Commission was created, which will manage the investment trust and analyze the progress.
Moreira recalled that, at the time of his inauguration, there was a housing deficit of 60,000 to 70,000 homes. As he explained, the main problems were the number of settlements and the difficulty of the working middle class in accessing said goods.
In relation to this initiative, he said that the participation of the municipalities will be key and that nine departments still do not have projects of the Promoted Housing program.
He also explained that the current management will promote rentals with the option to buy, mainly among young people, and that a non-refundable contribution of up to 30% of the total value has been defined.
In reference to the methodology, he emphasized the implementation of the Certificate of Registration of Non-Traditional Construction Systems, which allows the inclusion of cheaper alternatives in shorter terms. As of today, there are 12 approved systems.
So far, 18 projects have been submitted for the Entre Todos, Sueños en Obra program, equivalent to 1,221 houses. It is expected to reach between 3,500 and 5,000 under this modality in the current period.
The minister stressed that a change in the characterization of the family nucleus now allows couples without children to register, thus facilitating more opportunities.
Ceretta referred to the geographical distribution. She explained that only 7% of the Promoted Housing interventions were located outside of Montevideo, Canelones and Maldonado. She also argued that the final value of the properties of this format does not allow access to those who make up the first eight deciles in terms of income.
For his part, Eduardo González pointed out that in order to determine the value of the quotas of the new program, a commercial feasibility study will be carried out, together with the ministry’s trust.
To access the built units, it will be considered that each family nucleus proves income that covers at least 70% of the value of the monthly fee and that this payment does not affect more than 25% of their total remuneration.
Hackenbruch said that construction is one of the activities that distributes resources most quickly in society. He considered that, to date, the sector generates 57,000 direct jobs and it is estimated that for each one there is another indirect one. He also valued that this industry contributes almost 10% of the gross domestic product.
