Rethinking social housing | L’Economiste

Moroccan cities face major challenges in terms of housing, mobility and environmental sustainability. This is another finding of the OECD, which has just published its «Review of Morocco’s national urban policy» (see our issue No. 6847 of 09/18/2024).

While the housing policies implemented over the past two decades in Morocco have made a significant contribution to the elimination of substandard housing and greater access to decent housing for all, «some have shown their limitations», according to this analysis.

The OECD cites the case of the social housing policy, «which has often benefited middle-class rather than low-income households, due to the absence of eligibility criteria, and which has lacked geographic targeting, with regions facing either an over-supply or a shortage of housing». The Cities without Slums program has also shown «certain limitations». «Such as the fact that it has not managed to reach all targeted households, with slippage rates (lots inhabited by non-attributee households) sometimes reaching up to 20%, and urban integration difficulties due to insufficient facilities and services in certain neighborhoods», notes the OECD.

To analyze housing and housing-related challenges in Morocco’s cities, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development drew on data based on the 2014 Population and Housing Census (RGPH 2014), the housing survey conducted in 2012 and the 2015 National Housing Demand Survey. A new census is scheduled for September 2024 and a housing survey for 2026. The OECD will take these into account in its next Review. While drawing up its recommendations, the OECD does not fail to mention the paradigm shift and new impetus brought about by the National Dialogue on Urban Planning and Housing around the heme of  «from tax exemptions for developers to personalized assistance for homebuyers».

While the production of social housing has certainly been «marked by dysfunctions of various kinds, it now appears necessary to continue the effort to build low-cost and very low-cost housing, particularly in view of the scale of future needs emanating from modest categories of the population», note the authors of the study. Nevertheless, they stress the fact that  «the policy aimed at stimulating this social housing production should be rethought by integrating three priorities: a production that is more reasoned, of better quality, and better targeted».

F.Z.T.