Havana/Alejandro Candelaria, 27, only had a week to collect his things and leave with his girlfriend from the house where they lived rented in Havana. It didn’t matter how always paid rent in time and even invest in improving accommodation conditions. The owner, who previously entertained them with phrases of “better than you, none”, barely excused himself saying that he had already sold the place and that he needed to dislodge them.
As there was no legal contract in the rent, the two young people, without the possibility of claiming before the law, had no choice but to look for another rent within one week, also without contract and under the risk of another sudden move, as is usual in the country. “Over time, I learned that everything was a lie, that another person was living rented where the guy (the owner) threw us. He paid more money,” Candelaria told IPS.
Carla Carreño, a 24 -year -old Chilean who studied at the University of Havana, was looking at some income for Vedado, one of the most sought -after neighborhoods in the capital, and almost all exceeded the price of $ 100 per month, even if they did not have all the optimal conditions for living, as essential appliances. Those places designed for foreign tenants, with better comforts, were around $ 250 and 300.
“The prices are climbing. It is very strong. Before I was not so expensive. I attribute it to the cost of living in Cuba, and the (price of) dollar, they are going up a lot,” Carreño told IPS. According to the student, several friends have evicted them with the justification that the house is to be sold, but most of the time, it is a less “cumbersome” way of changing the tenant for another who pays more.
Income prices may vary greatly, Candelaria warned, depending on whether the owner is an acquaintance of the area and the conditions of the place and other typical elements.
Income prices may vary greatly, Candelaria warned, depending on whether the owner is an acquaintance of the area and the conditions of the place
This young worker of a private owned bar does not consider that the $ 50 per month currently pays for a small two -quarter apartment, in a neighborhood near the city’s historic center, is a expensive price for the current real estate market. However, it is a price that only mostly private sector workers can be paid or from a few segments whose monthly salaries exceed, to a large extent, the 16 dollars – according to the informal exchange rate rate of the average salary of the state sector in Cuba, which uses the majority of the population.
The price of income may have increased with respect to previous years, but what remains unchanged is the state of legal lack of protection under which the agreements between tenants and owners or lessors occur, called locally homemade. “Actually, contracts do not exist. Linear rentals (which extend without a defined term) occur without contract,” Candelaria acknowledged.
For their part, Carreño said that “they have nothing legality, there is nothing agreed by contract and anyone can take in 15 days.” The university student believes that this situation could be avoided with a more regulated real estate system.
In Cuba, there are legal tools that allow owners to lease their homes, either for hours, days or months, both Cubans and foreigners, other natural persons or businesses, whether some spaces or the entire housing. However, they avoid doing so by legal means to avoid bureaucratic issues, evade taxes, or inspections and controls that a self -employed worker license entails in the modality of “householder lessor”, which can derive in fines.
There is also a risk that the authorization of the license be denied from the beginning because the lodging does not meet certain conditions of habitability, hygiene or other reasons; Then the owner could be inspected sometimes to verify that he is not illegally in rent. In summary, the landlords are not convenient for legality.
“It is not easy. Tenants can be a surprise box. There are those who destroy things, or simply do not fix them if they break (the expenses for minor repairs must be assumed by the tenants, according to the law),” Edmundo told IPS, a landlord of Havana who asked to stay in anonymity. In any case, Edmundo never considered registering his business and operating under the legal umbrella: “Why would I?
The legal protection of personal property housing has suffered various transformations throughout history.
The legal protection of personal property housing has suffered various transformations throughout history. In 1960 this economic activity was prohibited and in 1984, Law 48 acknowledged that “it is convenient, as a marginal solution to our housing deficit, authorize that housing owners who possess leftover spaces rent those spaces, within certain limitations.” It was authorized without administrative procedures.
In 1988, Law 65, the General Housing Law, regulated the possibility of leasing up to two rooms with or without their own health service, prior authorization of the Municipal Directorate of the corresponding housing. Then the law, which is still valid, suffered several modifications in terms of rent.
The most recent reform was that of 2018, through the Decree Law 35which states, in its article 74.1, that “the owners can lease their homes, rooms and spaces, to natural and legal persons (…) through a freely agreed price and prior authorization of the Municipal Labor Directorate.”
While the real estate market is characterized by increasingly expensive income, The price of homes for sale is, on the contrary, very depreciated With respect to years ago. According to the owner of a private real estate company in Havana, dedicated to the management of housing sale, inflation has negatively impacted the prices of real estate.
In addition, between 2020 and 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the notaries closed and house sales were practically detained. On the other hand, the immigration crisis from 2022, together with the crisis of multiple dimensions faced by Cuba, has caused that there are almost no clients, and that house prices collide substantially.
“From 2020 until today, it has been one of the worst epochs for the boom real estate. The behavior has gone into minced, and you can find a house that in 2015 cost $ 500,000, at $ 200,000 or less, ”this real estate corridor with more than 10 years in the sector, who asked for anonymity.
Although some homes are offered by more than $ 100,000, they can also be found in 2,000 dollars, in peripheral areas of the capital and with worse conditions. According to their experience, people interested in buying houses are usually married women with foreigners who emigrated years ago to another country, with the intention of having a home to spend their vacations in Cuba and leave it in the care of other relatives. Likewise, private business owners are usually Cuban, or foreigners who have permanent residence on the island; Of the latter, some take advantage of the low market prices to buy houses, repair them and sell them to other foreigners, he explained.
Those who sell, meanwhile, are desperate people to emigrate or who do not have the resources to pay for the maintenance of large properties
Those who sell, meanwhile, are desperate people to emigrate or who do not have the resources to pay for the maintenance of large properties; Or low -income elders who then buy a cheapest house to live their last years with the remaining money, he said.
House prices are lower, but still inaccessible to most of the population, especially when the state bank, the only one that can legally deal with the population, does not offer credit options for their purchase. Even so, many question – young people, to a large extent – if worth that investment.
“Buying a house is not very interested, since my goal is not to live in Cuba. I prefer to pay a rent at the moment than to spend my savings on a house that I am not interested in living it,” said Candelaria. The slow pace of the construction of new homes, conditioned by the shortage of construction materials, also does not help to solve the country’s housing demand.
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Drafting Note: This article was published originally In IPS.
