Mi Casa Ya, from hope to despair

Hundreds of families who already have signed purchase and sale promises will not have access to their own home when they are left without the subsidy from the Mi Casa Ya program and will lose, incidentally, part of the resources contributed for that purpose.

Óscar Osorio Ospina

The changes that the government of President Gustavo Petro introduced in the Mi Casa Ya program not only ended the hopes of thousands of families of having their own roof, but it is about to bankrupt dozens of construction companies and generate the loss of hundreds of jobs in this sector.

These new conditions have caused a contraction in social housing that is seriously affecting Risaralda, where 5,755 subsidies were required, of which only 111 have been assigned to date: 73 for Dosquebradas, 25 for Santa Rosa de Cabal and 13 for Pereira , which represent less than 2%, warned the regional manager of Camacol, Víctor Baza Tafur. Of that figure, 1,943 subsidies correspond to the outstanding balance of 2022 and 3,812 that were expected this year by the construction companies that had been promoting 43 housing projects.

For the month of April 2023, housing sales in Risaralda have decreased by 34% compared to 2022 in the social interest housing (VIS) segment and by 17% in the NO VIS. The drop in the pace of construction affects, incidentally, 36 subsectors of the regional economy related to the supply chain, therefore, any impact on these indicators will impact job creation. At the moment there are 22,933 people directly employed in the sector, which compared to the same period of the previous year represents a loss of 786 jobs in the region.

Doctor Baza Tafur, As Can you describe the impact that the construction sector is suffering due to the changes in Mi Casa Ya?

The impact is negative for households that did business a year and a half or two years ago with different conditions than those currently proposed by the current national government. And I say different because in order to apply and access the social housing subsidy, I had very easy conditions and without government intermediation as such, so closing the business was viable and viable in a different way. Today there are new conditions and requirements that were practically unknown to the original business and the essence and nature of the Mi Casa Ya program.

How many families are being affected in Risaralda?

In previous years, more or less, the average was 6,000 to 7,000 homes in Pereira, Dosquebradas and Santa Rosa in the two segments: priority interest housing and social interest housing. Today we have 5,755 families pending subsidies, of which only 111 have received it.

What will happen to these families that already had signed the promises of sale? Will they lose their money?

Many of these families are going to have to back out of the business because they will not be able to meet the financial closure. At this time the builders are supporting these homes and trying to do everything possible to close the business, but what happens is that the builder cannot answer for the subsidy, it is the national government that has to allocate the resources and do the assignments. But there will come a time when, if the business cannot be closed, the builder will demand payment and that family will have to decide if they do it with their own resources, but if they do not have them, they will have to give up. of the business and that withdrawal costs the buyer… Remember that in the contracts there are clauses established in money if you withdraw or withdraw from the business.

What are these new conditions of the Mi Casa Ya program?

The new conditions include the categorization of the municipalities and the priority for this government in terms of new housing and improvement are the fourth, fifth and sixth category populations. In addition, it was requested that the beneficiaries of the subsidy be enrolled and registered in the Sisbén and also according to these categories they have the targeting of the subsidy. These are requirements that did not exist and are being applied without a transition period.

In economic terms, has the impact of these changes already been measured?

Right now we have a decrease of more than 60% in social interest housing, there is a contraction and on top of that we already have a drop in employment, especially in direct jobs in the sector, of more than 780 jobs. As for project launches, we also see a setback, there is already a contraction in the sector as such and this logically has some effects on the local economy, since there are 36 economic sectors that have to do with the construction value chain . In addition to that, the income of the municipalities by concept of property tax will be diminished, as well as negative and harmful effects are expected in some aspects of a social nature.

How are the builders going to deal with this situation?

There is a rather serious situation for many builders, especially small ones, who need builder credit from financial institutions and who have not been able to deliver the units that have already been built. Some 111 of the more than 5,700 subsidies that are required have arrived here, the units are ready and the builder has to comply with the credits and monthly interest. The builder is trying to help the buyers, but there will come a time when they will have to make a decision if the withdrawal forces them to have to renegotiate those housing units and most likely without subsidy.

Has Camacol already raised this situation with the national government?

The meetings with the national government have been multiple. What’s more, recently here in Pereira the Minister of Housing was present with her work team, they attended a national board of directors of Camacol where several members of the national and regional boards of directors brought reality to their attention and this has happened in various scenarios. But the national government in this matter of housing goes in one ear and out the other ear. At each meeting they commit to expedite the allocation of subsidies and the transfer, but the answer is that in each resolution there are three subsidies for one city, four for another, as has happened in our case in Risaralda. The missing subsidies total between $15 billion and $20 billion.

Could this bankrupt many builders?

Yes, definitely, especially the medium and small builders who have their market niche in low-income housing. And not only here in Risaralda but throughout the country is going to see a massive bankruptcy of builders who were dedicated to social housing.

The most affected

Of the 43 social interest housing projects in Risaralda affected by this crisis situation in the Mi Casa Ya program, the most emblematic for the number of housing solutions at stake are the following:

Fortal de Condina (520), San Francisco Campestre stages 1 and 2 (516), Jacaranda Parque Residencial (364), Acqua Hills stages 1, 2 and 3 (350), Alcázares Apartments (320), Guaduales del Otún (300), Entreguaduas (280), Los Molinos Residential Park (272), Zaguán de Villavento (256) and Mirador Campestre (240).