90 construction workers on a Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) building site in São José do Rio Preto, in the Fernandópolis region of São Paulo were recently found working in conditions that have been described as akin to “slavery”. The project has subsequently been embargoed and the local Public Ministry for Labour has initiated an investigation related to a wide range of irregularities whilst ordering the termination of all contracts.
Brazil’s leading housing finance institution – the Caixa Econômica Federal – has recently announced that it will be reducing its interest rates under the Melhor Crédito (“Better Credit”) programme from 4th May 2012. For properties valued at up to R$ 500,000, the annual pay rate has dropped from 10 to 9 percent – with existing clients being able to access a reduced rate of 7.9 percent. For properties above R$ 500,000, the rate will drop from 11 to 10 percent – with a client rate of 9 percent.
Recent research undertaken by UOL Brasil demonstrated evidence of what have been termed as “political calculations” in the allocation of government funding for the affordable housing initiative Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) – based on the analysis of 2,582 Brazilian municipalities of less than 50,000 habitants.
The recent evictions and mass displacements of favela residents in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have served to demonstrate the extremely lagged nature of Brazil´s affordable housing strategy – with most of the demographic having very few options beyond the bare boned compensatory packages offered when such situations occur. Some interesting points were recently made by Ermínia Maricato, professor of the architecture and urbanism faculty at the University of São Paulo related to the growth in the acquisition of electronic goods, motorbikes and cars by those living in precarious living conditions in sharp contrast with the lack of progress in effective housing reform for these groups. In an interview with the Rede Brasil Atual, which has been broadly translated below, Maricato – one of the brains behind the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) programme – also commented that Brazilian urban housing reform is moving counter directionally and there is a need to initiate a “new fight”.
Please see a recent strongly targeted quote from political commentator Delio Nilton Tonin via the Observador Político website on the ongoing progress of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) programme…
A recent initiative to construct 900 popular houses in Votorantim, São Paulo under the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) donation initiative highlighted the fact that input costs have continued to show no sign of abating.
March 1st, 2012 by
Ruban Selvanayagam
1 Comment
A recent article in the Rio de Janeiro online “R7” magazine pointed to the growing number of people moving into favela regions of the city as a result of the inflationary pressures on rents and wider perceptions that, as a result of the recent pacification programmes, they have become safer to live in.
Recent commentary made by Nabil Georges Bonduki, professor of urban housing at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of São Paulo (FAU-USP) indicated that the rapid rises in land prices have effectively negated Brazilian housing sector growth, most notably for low income groups.
A short news bulletin (via YouTube) on a number of affordable housing development delays occurring in Santo André in the ABC industrial region, São Paulo state under the donated Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) initiative. The issues exemplify the wider criticism that the programme has attracted since its launch in 2009.
“The Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) programme is already experiencing a number of problems. One example has been a large amount of fraudulent activity under the initiative, particularly with unscrupulous construction companies marketing that their units can be incorporated when, in fact, the criteria of the Caixa Econômica Federal is not being satisfied. But the main problem is that the programme has generated a property bubble in the low cost housing sector bringing issues related to viability. The companies involved in the sector now want the government to further increase price limits – yet clearly, if this happens, the values of these properties will be pushed higher which will not work out well.” – Fábio Portela, Pequeno Investidor (“Small Investor”)
