92,000 Families Living in Unregulated Housing!

The National Chamber of the Housing Development and Promotion Industry (Candevi) Quintana Roo division has reported that approximately 92,000 families are living in unregulated or unlawfully occupied housing in the municipalities of Benito Juárez and Solidaridad.

Each year, an estimated 80,000 homes are constructed informally, causing significant issues beyond legal uncertainties. These problems include environmental impacts such as unauthorized land clearances and underground pollution.

Candevi emphasizes the need to preempt these issues by building progressive housing that is affordable for residents. The organization is working with the Caribbean Business Coordination Council to prevent the expansion of these unregulated settlements.

Candevi explains that when construction of regular housing stalls, people seek alternative ways to acquire homes. Often, this results in unlawful occupation or unregulated purchases, which do not adhere to city planning regulations or leave space for urban development.

The organization acknowledges that reducing the cost of social housing is crucial to addressing this issue. They aim to achieve this by 2025, despite potential inflationary increases of 2-3% on the Basic Basket Price Index. However, they note that other market conditions have seen a decrease.

For example, labor costs, which increased due to the Maya Train project, have begun to stabilize as the federal work concludes. Some supply costs have also decreased, although others have risen for various reasons.

Lastly, Candevi is working with state and municipal authorities to reduce the impact of procedures and permits on the cost of social housing, which currently account for around 18% of the final price. The goal is to decrease this impact by 10 percentage points, bringing it down to 8%.