In Mexico, 8 out of 10 homes lack basic services or need restructuring: Sedatu

He housing backlog It is a social problem that affects 80% of the homes in Mexicowhich are in need of restructuring/expansion, or suffer from a lack of basic services, such as water or drainage.

This was stated by Román Meyer, head of the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu), during his participation in the Forum on adequate housing which took place in the Chamber of Deputies.

According to the 2020 Population and Housing Census, in Mexico, there are 35.2 million households inhabited individuals, that is, around 28.1 million suffer from some lack of infrastructure, although they are not formally counted within the housing backlog formal, where according to official data there are more than 8.5 households in this condition.

Based on these figures, housing policy that the country’s federal government has followed has concentrated on creating mechanisms that encourage self-production so that the population meets their needs, whether it is for the construction of new homes or for the repair and improvement of them.

Between credits, subsidies and support, the public housing institutions They have carried out 2.6 million shares throughout the administration, which represents an investment of 828,000 million pesos.

The Undersecretary of Territorial and Agrarian Planning of Sedatu, Edna Vega Rangel, explained that 35% of these actions have focused on self-production.

Meyer assured that this strategy has allowed, since 2020, 1 million living placeif they left the lag and that families improve their living conditions.

“Focus on produce new housing (as was done in previous administrations) makes the possibility of reducing this margin less, because only one segment is served. The population requires freedom of decision, it does not need to be subordinated to the state, that is a planning error because they perfectly know what they need,” said the official.

For his part, the UN-Habitat representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Elkin Velásquez, reiterated that putting the housing construction to the center of the sustainable development of cities is essential to improve the quality of life of the population.

In this sense, he recognized the housing policy of the country focused on self-production and added that another of the fundamental elements to advance in the matter is land management, to avoid the uncontrolled expansion of cities.

“This involves conceiving housing projects in a sustainable framework, but it is necessary to create systems of norms and adequate regulations to achieve it”, commented the specialist.

Other factors that, he said, must be addressed are:

• promote the partner housingl.
• Develop basic services.
• Strengthen cities against the risk of natural disasters.
• integrate the adequate housinggives the context of neighborhoods and neighborhoods.