Free housing for the poor: An effective way to address poverty?
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- 作者：Alan G. Gilbert
- 关键词：Housing ; poverty ; social policy ; Latin America ; Colombia
- 刊名：Habitat International
- 出版年：January, 2014
- 年：2014
- 卷：41
- 期：Complete
- 页码：253-261
- 全文大小：349 K
文摘
Every government in Latin America, and many beyond, is convinced that the only house worth having is a home of one's own. Most have improved housing credit facilities and introduced subsidy policies to help the poor obtain their dream. Unfortunately, few subsidy programmes have been effective and the housing shortage has almost always risen. In 2012, the Colombian government responded to this problem by introducing a radical housing policy. It announced that it will provide free homes for 100,000 families every year. Such an approach appears to be unprecedented across the world. This paper examines why the Colombian government adopted this policy and evaluates its chances of success. The article is concerned particularly with the question of whether providing free housing is the most effective way of helping the desperately poor. It is concerned with evidence that previous programmes to subsidise the cost of formal housing have not helped the poor. In particular, they have provided poor quality accommodation, failed to provide adequate services or a decent living environment, and have sometimes contrived to create the problem neighbourhoods of the future. Offering families a home for nothing does not solve the fundamental problem facing the poor - their very low incomes.