Low-income housing: A new approach in preparation
Since the end of the social housing program in 2020, real estate developers, who used to sign agreements with the Governments, no longer had visibility. Today, the situation has changed with the Head of Government who unveiled a tiny part of the new strategy that the minister of Housing intends to deploy, through a guidance note for the preparation of the Draft Budget Law (DBL) for 2023 that he signed at the end of last week. Indeed, the Government attaches particular importance to access to decent housing. It therefore decided to opt for a new approach to granting subsidies. Thus, the Government wishes to replace the granting of tax exemptions – the economic and social impact of which is difficult to assess – with direct support to families for the purchase of housing. This will be carried out according to a methodology based on dialogue and consultation with the various stakeholders, according to this guidance note.
In any case, the 2022 tax expenditure report says a lot about the extent of the exemptions granted to companies in the real estate sector. Indeed, the total tax expenditure in 2021 is estimated at 29.501 billion MAD versus 27.827 billion MAD in 2020. Real estate activities channeled 6.546 billion MAD. Thus, the real estate sector, which comes first, represents 22.2% of the total amount of these exemptions.
Meanwhile, the ministry of Housing and Urban Planning does not want to reveal the content of this new strategy. Fatima Zahra Mansouri contented herself with making announcements to parliamentarians during oral questions on the holding of a national and regional dialogue last July, but, obviously, the line minister has not obtained the necessary validations in the meantime. Officially, her department is in the process of putting the finishing touches to these foundations, which will be marked by consultations with all stakeholders in the urban planning and housing ecosystem, the ministries, the state owned enterprises and agencies, the business operators, the banking sector, and local governments. Participants will come out with recommendations that are the substance of this new vision based on direct assistance to buyers. The central idea is to develop a program able to meet the needs of the population. Thus, this program will be intended for all segments of the population, with mainly the middle class and vulnerable people, among other social categories.
Mohamed CHAOUI
