The need for a adequate housing in Mexico it impacts 33 million people, who currently live in 8 million homes; however, the efforts made by the government are insufficient in this regard if the support mechanisms are not adjusted and, also, if the private initiative does not do its part, according to the organization Habitat for Humanity.
In an interview, Fernando Mendoza, executive director of the Terwilliger Center for Housing Innovation (CTIV) of Habitat for Humanity Mexico spoke about the great housing challenge that exists in the country, since not only must the backwardness of 8 million homes be attacked, but solutions must also be found in the future scenario, where it is expected that by 2050 about 78 % of the population will live in cities.
“The government’s efforts are insufficient for the need to living place that exists in Mexico. Something that must be done is this link between all existing actors, which must have two approaches: one differentiated, so that support reaches the poorest and another, where companies can make a profit by understanding the needs of the market”, Mendoza commented.
According to the director of this non-profit organization, the vision of this government to promote the self-production of housing, without intermediaries, it is correct, as it is the dominant model in the country’s housing stock; however, if there is no monitoring of the impact of the subsidies offered, it will be difficult to generate a scheme that really combats housing deficit.
“In Mexico, 68% of the households built in Mexico have been self-built. So, on this issue of adapting and giving these skills, it is precisely so that people know how to build well and safely; that has habitable spaces; that can hire masons who have the skills to do it,” said Mendoza, explaining how the construction model should be home self-production in the country.
For the representative of Habitat for Humanity in Mexico, the only way for the government to have a favorable impact is to support families in having a solution of living place It is appropriate to carry out the analysis if the support that is granted really has a positive impact.
“The only way in which the government can have a greater impact is to give the necessary subsidies, but with a focus on the future that the family will have to improve their conditions, that the money is used for the destination for which it is focused and above all, that it be possible to guarantee that the construction is adequate and that it complies with the elements of habitability, lighting, all those elements that are important,” Mendoza pointed out.
IP work
The representative of Habitat for Humanity in Mexico explained that, in this context of promoting the self-productionthe private initiative (PI) also has the challenge of providing adequate tools to people who receive support from the government, either with materials or even with financing.
“Before, in other housing schemes (such as the subsidies granted in past administrations), all the companies were used to selling materials in volume, but now with the low-income population we find that they do not know the market, that they have not really understood their needs,” explained Mendoza.
Likewise, Mendoza emphasized the need to financing to trigger the self-production model, because although there are microfinance institutions that work in this market, most of them still cannot generate an adequate supply.
“Very few microfinance institutions are understanding this market, the issue of living place in microfinance institutions it is a consumer loan and there is no follow-up for it… But it is important to highlight that housing credit is the one with the least default because people understand that they are generating their wealth and that the microfinance institutions do not see it and they continue to think that mortgage credit is the option,” said Mendoza.
For the representative of Habitat for Humanity In Mexico, if all this is resolved and, in addition, technical advice is provided to the beneficiaries of government support, a substantial advance will be noted in combating the housing deficit.
organization work
Habitat for Humanity is an organization with a presence in more than 160 countries around the world. In Mexico, it began working in 1984 with a regional perspective and under the amendment to assert the constitutional right of people to access decent housing.
It was in 2015 that the organization created the Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Housing Mexico in order to join its two main amendments, the philanthropic activity to provide housing solutions and the other, to articulate the market to generate an ecosystem that helps fulfill its purpose.
According to Mendoza, under this two-factor scheme, the organization has developed nearly 250,000 housing solutions.
“Our strategy is linked to how to attack the issue of urban housing and generate options so that the poorest families can work through subsidy and savings schemes. Also so that people who can pay a little more can have products ( of credit) affordable,” said Mendoza.