The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, chaired an inter-ministerial meeting in Rabat to discuss housing and urban development aid, according to a statement from the Royal Cabinet.
During this meeting, the Minister of National Spatial Planning, Urbanism, Housing and City Policy, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, presented the main lines of the housing aid programme, following the instructions of the Alaouite monarch to improve the ability of families to access decent housing.
Participating in this working session were the head of the government, Aziz Akhannouch, HM the King’s advisor, Fouad Ali El Himma, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah, Minister of National Land Management, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, and the chairman of the board of directors of the Al Omrane development holding company, Housni El Ghazaoui.
The Moroccan state’s intention is to promote social housing, following the trend of steady progress in this area in recent years. As the Royal Cabinet pointed out, the programmes supported by the state over the past two decades have enabled millions of Moroccans to have access to decent housing.
This new programme will run from 2024 to 2028 and aims to further strengthen support for home ownership and improve the purchasing power of households through direct financial assistance to homebuyers.
The programme is open to Moroccans living on Moroccan soil or Moroccans living abroad who do not already own a home in the North African country and have never received housing aid, as the official Moroccan news agency MAP also reported.
The amount of aid will depend on the value of the property purchased. Thus, the amount of aid is set at 100,000 dirhams, around 9,200 euros, for the purchase of a home whose sale price is less than or equal to 300,000 dirhams, around 27,800 euros (including taxes), and 70,000 dirhams (6,500 euros) for the purchase of a home whose price is between 300,000 dirhams, around 27,800 euros, and 700,000 dirhams, around 65,000 euros (including taxes), as announced in the official information from the Royal Cabinet.
On the social level, the new housing aid programme presented to His Majesty the King will facilitate access to housing for low-income social classes and the middle class, reduce the housing deficit and accelerate the implementation of the “Cities without slums” programme, as pointed out in the official communiqué.
This programme will also help boost the real estate sector by encouraging home sales and purchases, boosting the private sector and creating jobs as well.
In addition, the housing covered by the new aid programme will be built in full respect of existing development plans and in accordance with technical and quality standards.
In order to facilitate the implementation of this housing and urban development assistance programme, 12 regional urban planning and housing agencies will be set up, taking into account the specific characteristics of urban and rural areas.
Post-earthquake assistance
This programme of aid for access to housing in Morocco coincides with recent contributions by the Moroccan state to rehabilitate houses and other infrastructure destroyed by the terrible earthquake of 8 September, which seriously affected areas such as Al-Haouz, Taroudant, Chichaoua, Ouarzazate, Marrakech, Casablanca and the High Atlas region in general.
The government led by Aziz Akhannouch ordered direct financial aid for citizens whose homes had been partially or totally demolished, and also set up a plan to finance the reconstruction of various types of infrastructure in the areas affected by the earthquake. Emergency aid of 2,500 dirhams (about 230 euros) per month for one year was granted to families whose houses were partially or totally destroyed by the earthquake.
The powerful earthquake destroyed more than 59,600 houses, 32% of which have completely collapsed and 68 % of which have only partially collapsed, and the various ministries involved put forward a five-year plan in which around 11 billion euros will be invested in total within the overall reconstruction programme.
Source : Atalayar
