Housing policy in Colombia

Abstract

Colombia has followed a typically Latin American approach to its housing problems. Conditions in the countryside had always been deficient but the vast migration to the cities forced national and local governments to devise a more active response. The first response was to encourage the middle classes to buy homes by offering them subsidized mortgages. The second was to help the poor by setting up state institutes to build homes for rent. The third was to deal with the issue of rental housing – rent controls were the inevitable if misguided response. None of these policies could cope with the vast increase in urban numbers and the housing deficit increased year by year. With the election of a neo-liberal government in 1990, the methods changed. The financially bankrupt state housing agency was closed and a Chilean style demand side housing programme introduced to help the poor. Targeted subsidies were introduced incorporating the now fashionable ABC combination (Ahorro, Bono y Credito – savings, subsidy and credit). The scheme was successful in generating large numbers of offers of subsidy although most beneficiaries failed to obtain a home because they could not gain access to credit. Various changes have been made through the years to the scheme but the basic rationale survives and has recently been enlarged. The chapter will discuss the changes, as well as the arguments underpinning the changes, and the effect that the policy has had on the housing situation. Underlying Colombian housing policy has been the assumption that every Colombian wants to own their home. The last national government promised to create ‘un pais de propietarios’. Of course, it failed, particularly in large cities like Bogota where almost one half of the population still rent their homes. Despite their enormous numbers there has been no change in housing policy and tenants and landlords continue to be ignored in official housing policy. Insofar as there has been a shift it has surprisingly come from the private sector – Camacol, the main trade organization, which was influential in modifying the rental housing law in 2003, is now discussing the possibilities of building at scale for rent. There is also some belated recognition that the targeted subsidy programme cannot work without access to cheap land and the concept of ‘macroproyectos’ has been introduced to solve that problem. There are also local efforts, e.g. in Metrovivienda in Bogota, aimed at providing cheap land for the poor. What is so far missing is any kind of sites and services programme. While the local state has been active in regularizing tenure and providing services to existing self-help settlements, there is no policy beyond targeted subsidies to cater for future demand for low-income housing. There is no solution to the housing problem in Colombia but a different approach would be helpful in mitigating some of the worst symptoms.