Direct housing assistance: The rural world equally concerned
Fatim-Zahra Mansouri is back in force after an absence of over a month. During oral questions in the House of Representatives on Monday December 04, 2023, the Minister of Housing took the opportunity to correct a number of approximations concerning direct housing assistance in rural areas.
Even before the new system comes into force on January 01, it has been the subject of speculation. In any case, the Minister specified that this direct assistance is based on two mechanisms. Firstly, self-build, a specificity of the rural world, which is not attracted by 50-meter apartments as in the cities. Secondly, the reduction in the minimum number of units, which will enable any contractor, small or medium-sized, to carry out projects in rural areas.
Fatim-Zahra Mansouri considers that, for the first time, this direct assistance is an opportunity offered to the rural world, as the previous social program did not target these areas. The proof lies in the results, which were judged to be poor. The minister gave the example of a developer who is about to launch a project in the Tiflet region. The developer plans to sell his homes for 180,000 Dirhams (USD 18,000), with state assistance of 100,000 Dirhams (USD 10,000) – a golden opportunity that has never existed before, says the Minister. In any case, the digital platform for managing and validating applications to benefit from this assistance has been set up.
Coordination is currently underway between the parties concerned, including the CDG (Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion), to facilitate access to this platform.
With regard to the restructuring of substandard neighborhoods, the Minister is intervening on two levels. Firstly, in terms of urban planning, restructuring plans are prepared at the request of local authorities. The aim is to delimit the zones during the preparation of urban planning schemes. The results show that 260 restructuring studies have been carried out for 837 zones, 60% of which have been approved. In terms of urban policy, the results of the Ministry’s intervention in these neighborhoods led to the signature of 777 agreements for the restructuring of under-equipped and substandard neighborhoods.
The overall cost is estimated at 55.28 billion DH (USD 5.5 billion), with the Ministry contributing 21 billion Dirhams (USD 2 billion) for the benefit of 3.1 million families..
Mohamed CHAOUI
