7,000 families to benefit from subsidised housing

Some 7,000 underprivileged families from Zarqa, one of Jordan’s poorest governorates, located 15 km east from Amman, will now be able to own homes following the recent launch of a major government housing project. "A total of 7,000 apartments for low-income families will be built on an area of 2,000 square meters at a cost of no more than US $22,400 per unit," said Shihdeh Abu-deib, director of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). Abu-Hdeib pointed out that the average cost of similar properties on the local real-estate market is at least double this. HUDCO, which operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Planning, runs the national housing sector and provides subsidised shelter. With a population of 800,000, the Zarqa governorate suffers from one of the highest unemployment levels in Jordan: according to official figures, an estimated 18 percent are jobless. Despite gradually declining poverty rates elsewhere in the country, Zarqa has been the only governorate to register increases in poverty. According to the World Bank, at least three quarters of its population are considered to be living in poverty, which the government defines as anyone living on below US $553 per capita per year. At the national level, by contrast, poverty rates dropped by a third – to 14.2 percent – between 1997 and 2002. The situation has severely limited the purchasing power of residents. Due to the lack of housing, most people in Zarqa currently live in cramped and unhygienic conditions, where families of four are often forced to share single rooms, said HUDCO officials. Beneficiaries of the new housing programme will be selected on the basis of family size and income. Under the scheme, those families earning less than US $700 per month will be entitled to buy homes, the construction of which is expected to be completed within three years. An agreement has already been signed with a private, United Arab Emirates-based housing company for construction of the housing units. Beneficiaries will be able to pay for the cost of the apartments in monthly instalments, spread over a 30-year period. With 58 percent of households nationwide considered to be “low-income”, earning between US$ 490 and US $630 per month, the need for cheaper housing is urgent, according to a 2005 HUDCO study. In addition, most households cannot afford to buy 70 square-metre apartments – the minimum standard size for one family – at market prices. "Low-income families must either live at a relative's place or rent apartments,” explained Ralib Lazzeh of HUDCO’s Housing Policies department. The study further showed that recent investments in housing by private construction firms have targeted high-income groups only, resulting in a lack of affordable shelter for lower-income segments of the population. The report noted a concurrent increase in land costs and unit selling prices. To address the survey’s findings, HUDCO has launched a number of partnerships with the private sector and encouraged municipalities to increase the availability of land in urban centres.