• Submitted by: admin
• Society
• Business and Economy
• 04 / 28 / 2010

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Facing intense demand for housing, the Cuban government of President Raul Castro is granting permits that let Cubans build homes with their own resources, officials said Tuesday.

In Cuba, where the state runs the economy, home building until now has been a government affair.

Cuba, with 11.2 million people, has a severe housing shortage aggravated by three hurricanes that tore through the island two years ago, damaging half a million homes and causing 10 billion dollars in damage.

According to government figures more than half a million homes are needed.

The Cuban government announced in 2006 a goal of building 100,000 new homes a year, a target that eventually was cut in half.

Last year Castro authorized Cubans to "build your homes with whatever you can."

Cuba's Housing Institute has started granting "self-effort" building permits, the state-run Radio Rebelde said Tuesday.

The permits are to build new homes, or expand or repair existing homes, Institute president Roberto Vazquez said.

More than 80 percent of Cubans are homeowners, but by law cannot sell their homes. They can however swap them under a government system called the permuta.

Some building materials are sold in government run stores at subsidized prices, but most are sold in stores that only accept foreign currency.

It was not immediately clear how most Cubans, who make an average of about 20 dollars a month, might obtain supplies with which to build.

People who receive money sent back by family living abroad, a small minority, certainly look likely to benefit.

Source: rawstory.com/