HABITAT-CUBA: Housing, a Real Headache

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Feb 28 2001 (IPS) - Building, buying or expanding housing units in Cuba is becoming more and more difficult, because in most cases they are considered illegal activities, despite the growing housing deficit.

Official reports indicate that last year alone, the state confiscated more than 1,400 housing units and levied 2,057 fines, 1,530 of which were collected in dollars for a total of more than 1.5 million dollars.

In some cases, the seizure of housing units was accompanied by eviction of the inhabitants, who were considered to be infringing the law. Last year, 548 people were evicted, and the homes were put at the disposal of the state.

Local laws prohibit Cubans from selling their homes, building houses or additions, or swapping small housing units for larger ones, even if the difference in price is paid for, without the authorisation of local governments.

Moreover, people authorised to build houses on their own must prove that they purchased all materials, from the cement and sand to the very last brick, from state enterprises.

Renting out houses and apartments, meanwhile, is restricted to a small private sector which serves foreign tourists.

“They have seized more than 30 houses here, but people keep taking the risk,” a resident of Guanabo, a seaside town 30 kms from Havana, told IPS.

The offensive in Guanabo, an area which the government of Fidel Castro sees as top priority for the development of the tourism sector, especially targeted home-owners who rented out rooms illegally, thus evading taxes.

Also inspected were families building or remodeling their homes, many of whom purchased the building materials on the black market, with income from authorised or unauthorised rental payments.

In Guanabo, a nicely furnished home can be rented to foreign tourists for 45 dollars a day, or to vacationing Cuban families for 15 dollars a day.

Meanwhile, a home costs from 4,000 to 100,000 dollars, depending on the size and location.

In the government exchange bureaux, the dollar currently sells for 22 Cuban pesos, while the average monthly salary stood at 249 pesos last year, 12 percent higher than the 1999 average, according to statistics provided by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Alfredo Morales.

The biggest sources of hard currency for Cuba’s population of 11.1 million are family remittances sent from abroad and “wage incentives” extended to workers in productive sectors and in private services catering to tourists.

Any other channel for acquiring a house or for boosting one’s income is seen by authorities as incompatible with Cuba’s four decades-old socialist system.

“The day money determines housing patterns in the country, is the day we will be divided into social classes,” warned Juan Contino, coordinator of the Committees for Defence of the Revolution, which operate in every neighbourhood in the country.

The government’s decision to root out the problem of unauthorised housing practices was highlighted this month at a national meeting of directors of Cuba’s government Housing System, which received broad coverage by the local press.

Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage said irregularities in the housing market often went hand in hand with other illegal activities like prostitution and drugs, and “opened up spaces for anti-government, even terrorist, acts.”

As a warning, state-controlled TV broadcast images of several homes being confiscated in the beach resort town of Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Havana, which were turned over to institutions that serve the community.

One of the houses, which had been sold by a local resident to a foreign national for 74,000 dollars, was seized and handed over to the teachers’ social club, to be used in recreational activities and for holding teachers’ workshops and seminars.

But experts point to a serious problem underlying the “housing irregularities.”

According to government reports, 42 percent of Cuba’s population, or more than 4.7 million people, live in nearly 1.4 million housing units falling into the categories of “middling” to “poor” condition, and in need of urgent repairs or refurbishing. The proportion stands at 39 percent in Havana, a city of 2.2 million, and at 60 percent in some eastern provinces.

A government initiative aimed at refurbishing all homes in poor condition last year reached just 4.9 percent of those needing home repairs at a national level, and 9.8 percent in the capital.

Meanwhile, 42,923 new homes were completed last year, as part of an initial plan aimed at building 50,000, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, Granma, reported on Feb 22.

The report presented at the meeting of housing system directors indicated that last year, more than 140,000 housing projects were carried out by individuals and families, including reparations and the construction of 16,074 new homes.

The study added, however, that only 31 million pesos worth of materials were purchased through state channels, which meant that many materials were bought on the black market.

“The corridor leading up to the door of my house caved in nearly a year ago,” said a resident of downtown Havana. “I went to the local government, to the office of architecture, and no one took care of my problem. So I bought cement on the black market and paid a man to do the job for me.”

The 42-year-old woman, a professional, paid 40 Cuban pesos (just under two dollars) for each sack of cement. “I spent nearly my whole monthly salary, because I couldn’t find any way to purchase from the state, and now at any moment the state inspectors could come and fine me,” she said nervously.

A study by the Centres of Psychological and Sociological Research of the Cuban Academy of Sciences says the housing deficit and rundown houses and apartments constitute the most serious social problem in Cuba, which has a direct impact on families.

In Cuba, it is common to see three generations living under the same roof, and due to the lack of privacy and adequate living space, in addition to cultural factors, the birth rate is steadily declining. The difficulty in finding one’s own place to live is one of the main problems driving Cubans, especially young couples, to attempt to emigrate, according to the study.

Another related problem mentioned is a high level of promiscuity.