President Pena Nieto Vows to Make Home Ownership More Accessible Presidency of the Republic
go to original February 12, 2013

President Enrique Pena Nieto ordered the Treasury Secretariat (SHCP) and federal agencies to establish a plan to make mortgages more accessible as part of his broader National Housing Policy plan. (Presidency of the Republic)

MEXICO CITY - The National Housing Policy reflects the challenge of the administration of President Peña Nieto to achieve a fair, inclusive, prosperous Mexico.

President Enrique Peña Nieto presented the National Housing Policy yesterday, which will lead to public and private efforts over the next few years. “This is a new model aimed at promoting the orderly, sustainable development of the sector, in order to improve and regularize urban housing and to build and improve rural housing.”

Having a decent home is one of the most cherished dreams of every Mexican family, said the president. Ensuring that all households in Mexico have proper infrastructure and basic services such as electricity, piped water, drainage and cement floors, will be one of the main responsibilities of this government,” he said.

President Peña Nieto said that “Moving Mexico forward will give families in our country a real possibility of obtaining the most important element of all assets: their home.”

He stressed that, together, “We can make the right to decent, decorous housing, as stipulated in the Constitution, a reality for each and every Mexican.”

At the event, held at the official residence of Los Pinos, he noted that in order to address population dynamics, this year the government plans to promote a million actions including the creation of plots of land, construction, expansion and home improvement, both in the countryside and in cities; over 500,000 of these actions correspond to new constructions.

The president said the new National Housing Policy considers four strategies: achieving more, better inter-institutional coordination is essential to the success and viability of the sector, which is why it has been decided that the Secretariat of Urban, Territorial and Agrarian Development (Sedatu) will be the coordinating body for housing policy in our country and also lead the Inter-Secretarial Commission on the matter.

From now onwards, on the basis of the agreement published today in the Official Gazette, the National Housing Commission, the Commission for the Regularization of Land Tenure and the National Fund for Popular Housing, will be sectored and coordinated by Sedatu. This Secretariat will sign also agreements with Infonavit, state governments and municipal authorities in the 60most important cities with the highest population growth.

The second strategy involves moving towards a model of sustainable, intelligible urban development. The president emphasized that the government will use housing funding to guide the country’s territorial and urban development.

President Peña Nieto added that cities have grown haphazardly without proper planning, which has led to urban sprawl, reducing their competitiveness and sustainability.”To curb this trend, loans and grants from the government will be redirected to development and orderly urban growth,” he added.

The third strategy is to reduce the housing gap, currently totaling approximately nine million homes. Over the next two decades, the demographic will continue to stimulate demand for new construction.
President Peña Nieto has instructed Director of Sedatu, Jorge Carlos Ramirez Marín, in conjunction with the Secretariat of Finance, to implement a new social security mechanism, focusing particularly on the purchase of new housing for federal, state and municipal police.

The fourth strategy is to ensure decent housing for all Mexicans. “We are determined to promote more loans and subsidies for the improvement and expansion of housing, in both urban and rural areas. In particular, over 320 thousand home improvement actions will be carried out for the specific case of the countryside, while over 97,000 actions will be carried out in rural housing.”

He said that home expansion and improvement actions will focus in the strategic areas envisaged by the National Crusade against Hunger and the Crime Prevention Program.

The president also mentioned that as from this year, a Home Improvement Program will be implemented in Housing Units, thereby complying with one of the commitments specifically established in the capital of the country.

He instructed Sedatu to coordinate a strategy with national housing organizations to achieve the goal of ensuring that all popular housing financed or subsidized by the State has at least two bedrooms, and thereby avoid having very small spaces for Mexican families. Sedatu must also ensure that urban development balances rural development, and is undertaken with respect for the environment and our natural resources.

The President of Mexico stressed that the housing sector is an engine of the domestic market and a lever for national development. It is a source of jobs and a promoter of economic growth. . He declared that there will be absolute certainty for all the stakeholders in this important sector, through clear rules, consistent policies and focused actions.

He said the housing industry requires structural adjustments, as a result of which, “We must establish a transition period of up to 24 months for all stakeholders to make the necessary changes to promote this policy.”

Meanwhile, Director of Sedatu, Jorge Carlos Ramirez Marín, recalled that in Mexico there are two different dimensions, agrarian Mexico occupying over half the country, inhabited by over 30 million Mexicans, and urban Mexico with 70 million people divided into 383 cities.

He noted that the amendments to the Organic Law of Federal Public Administration, included in the Housing Plan presented today, coincide with the challenge of the administration of President Peña Nieto to transform both dimensions into a single purpose: achieving a fair, inclusive, prosperous Mexico, which means making those who live anywhere in the country equal. “We cannot allow two schemes to remain in force, which contributes to the dissatisfaction of the citizens who live in them,” he added.

He pointed out that the Housing Plan forms the basis for creating the opportunities for urban development, access to services and decent living that Mexicans expect, which will result in orderly, planned, sustainable, intelligent cities.

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