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New appointments: Who is Héctor Lostri, the new Secretary of Housing and Habitat of the Nation
December 13, 2023
After the confirmation of Iván Kerr in that position, finally Héctor Lostri will be in charge of directing the Secretariat dependent on the Ministry of Infrastructure; The challenges ahead of him are the lack of access to mortgage credit, the housing deficit and the rental law
Héctor Antonio Lostri, who during the presidency of Mauricio Macri was controller of Military Fabrications and, later, held the position of Argentine ambassador to Paraguay, will be the new secretary of Housing and Habitat.
Days ago, on Friday, December 8, Iván Kerr himself had confirmed to LA NACION his position as Secretary of Housing and Habitat, dependent on the Ministry of Infrastructure, led by Guillermo Ferraro. However, the real estate sector was surprised by the change reported yesterday, Tuesday the 12th. Once again confirmed by LA NACION with Ferraro's spokesperson, Lostri will be the new Secretary. In this way, another of the changes of this new management is that the Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat that operated under the previous government “goes down a notch” and becomes the Secretariat of Housing and Habitat, being one of the ministries that Javier eliminated. Milei.
Héctor Lostri is an architect, with an honorary diploma from the University of Buenos Aires . He has a postgraduate degree in Production and Technology of Architecture (UBA) and another in Urban Economics at the Torcuato Di Tella University. He also completed Specialization studies in Land Market at the Lincoln Institute.
During Macri's management as head of the Buenos Aires government, Héctor Lostri served as Undersecretary of Planning in the City of Buenos Aires under the direction of Daniel Chaín (who held the position of Minister of Urban Development).
Héctor Lostri was Undersecretary of Planning in the City of Buenos Aires during Macri's administration in the Buenos Aires government.
A sector in convulsion
There are many challenges that await the future Secretary of Housing . Although brick was traditionally a refuge of value (and continues to be as a safe destination for savings and investment), in the last three years there has been a drop in property values that discouraged actions in the real estate market and slowed it down. its usual rhythm.Another of the current problems that Argentines face - and which is confirmed by a survey carried out by Reporte Inmobiliario - is the lack of access to mortgage credit. Credit is an essential tool to acquire a home, so the impossibility of obtaining one constitutes an obstacle for many Argentines who seek to obtain their own home and stop renting in a convulsed market, with high prices, low supply and high demand.
Regarding public works, Javier Milei has already shared his planning and expressed a cost cut, among his main measures. “We started by cutting public works and bringing them to zero, and we put out to tender those that are in progress. The contracts are respected,” assured the President. In execution, based on official calculations, there are about 3,500 works throughout the country, of which about 2,300 depend directly on the national budget and involve $309,898,545.82.
The Housing and Habitat Secretariat will depend on the Ministry of Infrastructure, led by Guillermo Ferraro.
Another of the great difficulties that Héctor Lostri's administration will face will be the problem of the housing deficit. In Argentina, one in three homes has vulnerable conditions or overcrowding, according to the report presented in August by the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (Cippec) , together with representatives of the Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACIJ), Techo and the French Development Agency (AFD). Access to habitat and adequate housing is essential to guarantee other rights such as health, education and work, and will be found within the policies that Lostri management must take into account.
The lack of access to mortgage credit, the housing deficit and the rental law are some of the challenges that Lostri will face.
One of the great unknowns will be the fate of the rental law. Milei expressed his intention to repeal the current rental law , which has been hitting the real estate market, the day after winning the elections. The law signed in June 2020 and its latest modifications in October of this year led to a drastic reduction in supply and generated an increase in prices. There is hope in the real estate market that the partial or total repeal will generate an incentive for owners to return their homes to the rental market and normalize supply and demand along with prices.
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