|
|
NEWS
Cuba OKs housing
ownership
Citizens may gain title to
state-owned homes
By Ray Sánchez | Havana Bureau
April 12, 2008
HAVANA - In a move that could signal sweeping housing reform, Cuba
announced Friday that thousands of its citizens will gain title to
state-owned homes for the first time.
The change in regulations, announced on the Web site of the Justice
Ministry's Official Gazette, was the latest in a string of reforms under
Raul Castro, who became president on Feb. 24.
During his seven-week administration, Raul Castro has eliminated bans on
Cubans owning cell phones in their own names, staying in tourists hotels
and buying DVD players and computers. On Thursday, state television
announced the elimination of wage limits established to promote economic
equality. Wages will likely be based on productivity.
In a country whose 11 million inhabitants face a severe housing
shortage, the change by the national housing institute is expected to
give Cubans greater freedom to legally sell their homes or pass
properties to their children or relatives.
"It's a positive step that could lead to further changes in the housing
sector," said dissident economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe.
The new housing decree outlines regulations for Cubans who rent from
their state employers and want to keep their apartments or homes after
they no longer work for those state enterprises. It's estimated that
thousands of Cubans, including military families, agricultural workers,
teachers and doctors, could gain title to their properties for the first
time.
"What this is doing is putting renters on an equal footing with owners,"
said Philip Peters, a Cuba expert at the Lexington Institute, a think
tank outside Washington, D.C. "The big thing would be if people were
allowed to sell their homes and fix the price on the open market."
By law, Cubans cannot sell their homes. Nearly all property is state
controlled, and only government-approved exchanges between homeowners
are permitted. That process, known as a permuta, is rife with corruption
and red tape. It can take years to complete.
Finding a new home in Cuba is hardest in Havana, which occupies less
than 1 percent of the island's territory but is home to 20 percent of
the population. Officials acknowledge a housing deficit in the capital
of about half a million homes but government critics say the need is
twice that.
Friday's announcement is expected to affect thousands of Cubans who
obtained housing through their state employers.
"If that group of Cubans is moved from renting to having title, that's a
good thing and, if in the future it means that all Cubans with title
will have a greater ability to buy and sell property, then so much the
better," Peters said.
In Havana's unofficial housing swap along Prado Boulevard on Friday,
many of the Cubans gathered to trade apartments in complicated
transactions that usually involved cash, said they hadn't heard of the
latest change. Few felt it was significant.
"This won't resolve the housing shortage," said a 60-year-old broker,
known as a corredor, who peddles addresses and facilitates swaps for a
fee. He asked not to be identified because his work was illegal. "They
need to address corruption among housing authorities. They also need to
build more housing. It's that simple."
Ray Sánchez can be reached at
rlsanchez@sun-sentinel.com.
News Archive
| Home
|
