Brazil: a tough nut to crack

The Brazilian Government has, after huge amounts of speculation, launched a national housing scheme that aims to increase the number of homes available all over the country...

The National Housing Plan has been a long time coming and lately, with the housing deficit in the country worse than ever, the need has been sky rocketing.

Set to benefit millions of Brazilians on a lower income, the £10 million ‘My House, My Life,' programme aims to build one million houses for Brazilians who are earning low wages.

Although initially aimed at towns with a minimum of 100,000 inhabitants, following much criticism and pressure from the opposition, President Lula da Silva has opened the scheme for all towns in Brazil.

This will now include smaller towns where the housing deficit is just as much of a problem as in the bigger cities but isn't so visible.

Although it will now apply to all towns, the scheme will be run according to demand - for example - smaller towns in the poorer Northeast of the country could reap the rewards before some big cities as the demand is desperate there.

The Southern region, the most populated in the country, will receive 363,984 units. The northeastern region, the poorest in Brazil, will receive 343,197 units.

More than 400,000 units will be built for families each with a monthly income of less than £416. As long as these families pay 10 per cent of their monthly income, they can move into the new homes.

Families each with a monthly income between £416 and £1388 will be able to receive subsidies from the Government and pay as much as 20 per cent of their monthly income for the access to the new homes.

The elderly and disabled will have priority when it comes to allocating the new houses, the Government said.

The National Housing Plan will also boast interest rates that will be far lower than the 13 per cent currently applied by Brazilian banks - though there are plans to lower those rates.

If a family was to lose their jobs once they had been allocated a home, they don't have to worry about the monthly payments as the Government has released a special fund of £294 million for covering their defaults.

Picture by Marília Almeida