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The reasons behind the closure of the Housing Secretariat and what will happen to the projects underway - La Nacion Propiedades
Source:
www.lanacion.com.ar
February 11, 2025
The measure was published in the Official Gazette and responds to a restructuring of the Ministry of Economy; a transitional team will be in charge of finishing deciding on the programs that have been dissolved or are in the process of being dissolved, including Procrear, which closed at the end of 2024.
The programs and projects managed by the Housing Secretariat, which was dissolved, will be transferred to the Public Works SecretariatArchive
Amid cuts and within the framework of a State restructuring process , the Government dissolved the Secretariat of Territorial Development, Habitat and Housing of the Nation . The measure, which was published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette through Decree 70/2025 , is part of what the Executive called “Motosierra 2.0”.
With this initiative, the Government eliminates a department that , in fact, had been inactive for months and transfers part of its functions to the Secretariat of Public Works. It should be noted that prior to being a Secretariat, during Alberto Fernández's administration, it functioned as a Ministry , until it was dissolved by decree 8/2023 on December 11, 2023, as part of the reduction of portfolios ordered by Javier Milei.
Since Milei's arrival to the presidency, the Housing Secretariat, which depended on the Ministry of Economy , was left in limbo and with an almost symbolic existence . The decision to dismantle it had been brewing for some time: Federico Sturzenegger, Minister of Deregulation and Transformation of the State , promoted its closure , and the initiative did not encounter resistance either from the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, or from the President himself.
The argument behind the measure is that the Secretariat had been a space of “misuse of funds and corruption” , with programs that, according to the current Government, “ fomented political clientelism and inefficiency” .
“To solve our country's housing problem, which has been going on for decades, the solution is not to build housing in dysfunctional places”, Sturzenegger said through his X account (formerly Twitter).
Most of the tasks of the now former National Housing Secretariat were carried out through three trust funds that are currently dissolved and/or in the process of dissolution. “These funds had registered a misuse of the society's resources, a lack of controls and results. Following the dissolution of the Secretariat, the decision that the provinces and municipalities promote this type of works, which had been developed in an irregular manner by the National State, was also ratified ,” the Government stated in a statement.
“The important thing is to have an orderly macro and a small State that frees up resources so that private credit for housing can grow . A process that has already begun to take place in 2024,” said the Minister of Milei, and added: “The construction of housing, in any case, may be a spring that provinces or municipalities choose to use, although, let's be clear: the provinces also abandoned it a while ago when they diverted resources from the National Housing Fund (Fonavi) for general administration expenses.”
Federico Sturzenegger promoted the closure of the Secretariat and Milei agreedX
A key point to analyze about Sturzenegger's statement is the following : “The closure of the Secretariat allows for significant savings in personnel (there were hundreds of people with no real job), buildings, equipment and services. In addition, there was a hidden army of people hired through universities for supposed audits , in some cases for very small works.” This would lead to the analysis that the closure aims more at eliminating contracts and structure ; and not at making changes in a practice that “had been abandoned since the end of 2023.”
In turn, a transitional team will be in charge of finishing deciding on the dissolved and/or in the process of dissolving programs, including Procrear (Argentine Bicentennial Credit Program for Single-Family Housing). The latter was dissolved in November 2024 through decree 1018/2024, but still has projects in progress.
As of February, there were 992 projects underway - of between 100 and 300 houses each - with different levels of progress: some were over 60% , while others were below 25%. In total, more than US$3 billion had already been invested for the construction of around 100,000 homes . According to the new official strategy, the provinces will be able to choose to acquire the developments in progress and finish them with their own resources. "The National Government will not continue any of them ," said sources familiar with the decision.
According to an official housing report accessed by LA NACION that lists all the projects in the country, their locations and their degrees of progress, both financial and construction, there are around 360 projects that have completed between 80% and 99% of their construction and are still pending completion in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chaco, Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Chubut, San Juan, Entre Ríos, Salta, Misiones, Catamarca, La Rioja, Neuquén, Tucumán, Santa Fe, San Luis, Salta, Formosa, Santa Cruz, Jujuy, Corrientes, Mendoza and La Rioja. The provinces of Chaco, Córdoba, Misiones and Buenos Aires are the ones with the most unfinished projects with the highest degree of progress.
The dismantling of the Housing Secretariat implies a profound transformation in Argentine housing policy . From now on, the provinces will be responsible for defining their own strategies. “There are no changes in practice, it is a way of telling the provinces that they must take charge ,” say those in the sector.
Without a specific national secretariat, a centralized vision of the housing market , financing and public works disappears. “The mortgage credit market has always needed a state regulatory framework. UVA, for example, existed because the State implemented it,” says Federico González Rouco, an economist specializing in housing.
In the regulation published in the Official Gazette, the transfer of SISU to the National Directorate of Architecture under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy was defined. Regarding this, Lostri added: “ It makes no sense to maintain SISU because it is very far from the other territories. The national government should only explain to each provincial government what the minimum housing conditions are.”
In addition, the former secretary stated that when he left his position - three months after taking office in December 2023 - and it passed into the hands of Rodrigo Aybar and Santiago Sánchez Sorondo, as undersecretary,“It was decided that any Procrear that did not have more than 25% of work completed would close.”
González Rouco , for his part, said that the measure is a response to years of poor administration, but criticized the lack of an alternative strategy: “The option cannot be to just eliminate or maintain, but never improve. We have to see if this implies some reordering, if there will be someone with a housing vision within public policy, or if they simply ignore the issue.”
Another voice that spoke out on the subject was Rodolfo Aguiar, general secretary of ATE Nacional, who stated that this would imply the dismissal of around 500 workers. “This is a government of failed CEOs that is costing Argentina dearly. They are paralyzing the construction of more than 100,000 homes in which the State had invested more than US$3 billion. They are generating an enormous housing deficit that is impossible to settle even in the medium and long term,” he said.
In this context, the secretary of ATE concluded: “The Ministry of Economy says that these changes will allow for better coordination of economic policies, but it is clear that the only thing they want to improve is the coordination of the deals that they are guaranteeing to a very small handful of businessmen.”
www.buysellba.com
Source:
Los motivos detrás del cierre de la Secretaría de Vivienda y qué pasará con los proyectos en marcha
La medida fue publicada en el Boletín Oficial y responde a una reestructuración del Ministerio de Economía; un equipo transitorio se encargará de terminar de decidir sobre los programas disueltos o en proceso de disolución, incluyendo el Procrear, que se cerró a fines de 2024
www.lanacion.com.ar
February 11, 2025
The measure was published in the Official Gazette and responds to a restructuring of the Ministry of Economy; a transitional team will be in charge of finishing deciding on the programs that have been dissolved or are in the process of being dissolved, including Procrear, which closed at the end of 2024.
The programs and projects managed by the Housing Secretariat, which was dissolved, will be transferred to the Public Works SecretariatArchive
Amid cuts and within the framework of a State restructuring process , the Government dissolved the Secretariat of Territorial Development, Habitat and Housing of the Nation . The measure, which was published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette through Decree 70/2025 , is part of what the Executive called “Motosierra 2.0”.
With this initiative, the Government eliminates a department that , in fact, had been inactive for months and transfers part of its functions to the Secretariat of Public Works. It should be noted that prior to being a Secretariat, during Alberto Fernández's administration, it functioned as a Ministry , until it was dissolved by decree 8/2023 on December 11, 2023, as part of the reduction of portfolios ordered by Javier Milei.
Since Milei's arrival to the presidency, the Housing Secretariat, which depended on the Ministry of Economy , was left in limbo and with an almost symbolic existence . The decision to dismantle it had been brewing for some time: Federico Sturzenegger, Minister of Deregulation and Transformation of the State , promoted its closure , and the initiative did not encounter resistance either from the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, or from the President himself.
The argument behind the measure is that the Secretariat had been a space of “misuse of funds and corruption” , with programs that, according to the current Government, “ fomented political clientelism and inefficiency” .
“To solve our country's housing problem, which has been going on for decades, the solution is not to build housing in dysfunctional places”, Sturzenegger said through his X account (formerly Twitter).
Most of the tasks of the now former National Housing Secretariat were carried out through three trust funds that are currently dissolved and/or in the process of dissolution. “These funds had registered a misuse of the society's resources, a lack of controls and results. Following the dissolution of the Secretariat, the decision that the provinces and municipalities promote this type of works, which had been developed in an irregular manner by the National State, was also ratified ,” the Government stated in a statement.
“The important thing is to have an orderly macro and a small State that frees up resources so that private credit for housing can grow . A process that has already begun to take place in 2024,” said the Minister of Milei, and added: “The construction of housing, in any case, may be a spring that provinces or municipalities choose to use, although, let's be clear: the provinces also abandoned it a while ago when they diverted resources from the National Housing Fund (Fonavi) for general administration expenses.”
Federico Sturzenegger promoted the closure of the Secretariat and Milei agreedX
A key point to analyze about Sturzenegger's statement is the following : “The closure of the Secretariat allows for significant savings in personnel (there were hundreds of people with no real job), buildings, equipment and services. In addition, there was a hidden army of people hired through universities for supposed audits , in some cases for very small works.” This would lead to the analysis that the closure aims more at eliminating contracts and structure ; and not at making changes in a practice that “had been abandoned since the end of 2023.”
Transfer of functions
The Secretariat will be completely eliminated , although some strategic functions , such as those handled by Sebastián Pareja (the Undersecretariat of Socio-Urban Integration -SISU-), will be transferred to the Secretariat of Public Works .In turn, a transitional team will be in charge of finishing deciding on the dissolved and/or in the process of dissolving programs, including Procrear (Argentine Bicentennial Credit Program for Single-Family Housing). The latter was dissolved in November 2024 through decree 1018/2024, but still has projects in progress.
As of February, there were 992 projects underway - of between 100 and 300 houses each - with different levels of progress: some were over 60% , while others were below 25%. In total, more than US$3 billion had already been invested for the construction of around 100,000 homes . According to the new official strategy, the provinces will be able to choose to acquire the developments in progress and finish them with their own resources. "The National Government will not continue any of them ," said sources familiar with the decision.
According to an official housing report accessed by LA NACION that lists all the projects in the country, their locations and their degrees of progress, both financial and construction, there are around 360 projects that have completed between 80% and 99% of their construction and are still pending completion in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chaco, Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Chubut, San Juan, Entre Ríos, Salta, Misiones, Catamarca, La Rioja, Neuquén, Tucumán, Santa Fe, San Luis, Salta, Formosa, Santa Cruz, Jujuy, Corrientes, Mendoza and La Rioja. The provinces of Chaco, Córdoba, Misiones and Buenos Aires are the ones with the most unfinished projects with the highest degree of progress.
The dismantling of the Housing Secretariat implies a profound transformation in Argentine housing policy . From now on, the provinces will be responsible for defining their own strategies. “There are no changes in practice, it is a way of telling the provinces that they must take charge ,” say those in the sector.
Without a specific national secretariat, a centralized vision of the housing market , financing and public works disappears. “The mortgage credit market has always needed a state regulatory framework. UVA, for example, existed because the State implemented it,” says Federico González Rouco, an economist specializing in housing.
For and against
The closure generated different reactions within the sector. Héctor Lostri, who was Housing Secretary at the beginning of Milei's administration, supported the decision : "I agree with the dissolution. It made no sense to have these areas open, but rather they should be in charge of local governments , especially when there are efficient people in the provinces to do it."In the regulation published in the Official Gazette, the transfer of SISU to the National Directorate of Architecture under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy was defined. Regarding this, Lostri added: “ It makes no sense to maintain SISU because it is very far from the other territories. The national government should only explain to each provincial government what the minimum housing conditions are.”
In addition, the former secretary stated that when he left his position - three months after taking office in December 2023 - and it passed into the hands of Rodrigo Aybar and Santiago Sánchez Sorondo, as undersecretary,“It was decided that any Procrear that did not have more than 25% of work completed would close.”
González Rouco , for his part, said that the measure is a response to years of poor administration, but criticized the lack of an alternative strategy: “The option cannot be to just eliminate or maintain, but never improve. We have to see if this implies some reordering, if there will be someone with a housing vision within public policy, or if they simply ignore the issue.”
Another voice that spoke out on the subject was Rodolfo Aguiar, general secretary of ATE Nacional, who stated that this would imply the dismissal of around 500 workers. “This is a government of failed CEOs that is costing Argentina dearly. They are paralyzing the construction of more than 100,000 homes in which the State had invested more than US$3 billion. They are generating an enormous housing deficit that is impossible to settle even in the medium and long term,” he said.
In this context, the secretary of ATE concluded: “The Ministry of Economy says that these changes will allow for better coordination of economic policies, but it is clear that the only thing they want to improve is the coordination of the deals that they are guaranteeing to a very small handful of businessmen.”
www.buysellba.com
