The Minister of National Territorial Development, Town Planning, Housing and City Policy, Fatima-Zahra Mansouri, said the housing deficit had fallen from one million units in 2002 to less of 385,000 units in 2021.
In response to a question from the Popular Movement (MP) group in Parliament, whose MoroccoLatestNews obtained a copy, Minister Mansouri explained that her department had made efforts in partnership with various players in the sector to create a balance between supply and demand, as well as to ensure the quantitative and qualitative compatibility between the two, in launching many housing programs.
With the end of state-subsidized housing programs, the government official added, it has become necessary to develop the housing sector in general, and social housing in particular. This requires holding large-scale, local, regional and national consultations, in order to work on the development of a large number of important projects for the sector, she underlined.
In this context, Fatima-Zahra Mansouri recalled the launch of the national dialogue on urban planning and housing on September 16, 2022 at the national level. Meetings were organized by the ministry in different regions of the kingdom, offering a real opportunity for discussion and collective mobilization of all actors and stakeholders in the sector in order to reflect, innovate and renew the field of urban planning and housing, she said.
According to the Minister, this strategy aims to set up housing programs that take into account social, economic and spatial requirements. It is essential, she said, to improve targeting, strengthen social diversity, rationalize spatial distribution, improve the quality and governance of projects, and contribute effectively to the implementation of recommendations of the new development model.
By implementing the results of the national dialogue on urban planning and housing and taking into account the new development model, direct support for families has been adopted as part of the finance bill for 2023. The objective is to complete the measures related to the new vision, which concerns the support of the purchasing power of families in coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, according to the same government official.
Moreover, Mansouri also pointed out that his department, in coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is working on the publication of the decree relating to the implementation of direct support. This decree will include the means and mechanisms for supervising and managing support, as well as the categories targeted and the conditions for granting support.
This, she argued, will create a new dynamic for the housing acquisition process and give new impetus to the sector, which has been affected since 2020 by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as by the end of the contracts under housing programs.