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Who is Héctor Lostri, the new Secretary of Housing who was a Macri official in the Buenos Aires government
December 12, 2023
The urban planning expert will direct this body in charge of addressing the housing deficit, which will no longer have ministerial status. It will be a secretariat and will depend on the Ministry of Infrastructure led by Guillermo Ferraro
By José Luis Cieri
Héctor Lostri was Argentine ambassador to Paraguay between 2017 and 2019. Now he returns to public service as Secretary of Housing of the nation.
After twists and turns where other names were previously considered and a certain secrecy, tomorrow or the next day the official announcement of Héctor Antonio Lostri will be made as the new head of the Ministry of Housing and Habitat, an organization that will depend on the Ministry of Infrastructure headed by Guillermo Ferraro.
This appointment joins others yet to be defined in various portfolios, all of which would be formalized during the week by the government led by Javier Milei.
Lostri, an architect with an outstanding career focused on urban planning, held the position of Undersecretary of Planning in the city of Buenos Aires under the direction of Daniel Chaín (he was Minister of Urban Development) during Mauricio Macri's administration as head of the Buenos Aires Government.
As a professional he received an Honorary Diploma (from the University of Buenos Aires). He also obtained a postgraduate degree in Production and Technology of Architecture (UBA) and another in Urban Economics at the Torcuato Di Tella University. She also completed a postgraduate degree in Specialization in Land Market at the Lincoln Institute.
He worked as former Advisor to the Urban Environmental Plan of the Buenos Aires Government. He was an advisor on Public Space and Planning to the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires until 2015. He was also an advisor to the Public Space and Planning commissions of the aforementioned legislative body.
When Macri was President of the Nation, between 2015 and 2019, he held two positions: he was controller of Military Manufacturing in 2016 and then he was the Argentine ambassador to Paraguay, between 2017 and 2019.
The Housing portfolio regains its secretariat status, marking the disappearance of the Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat as part of the State's reduction plan.
As for the Ministry of Infrastructure, it is simplified from three to one ministry, merging Public Works, Territorial Development and Habitat, and Transportation in Infrastructure, with a 33% decrease in the number of senior positions and decentralized organizations, going from 40 to 27 secretaries and undersecretaries.
Héctor Lostri would take over tomorrow or the next day as head of Housing in the new libertarian government scheme
Lostri will focus its plan on addressing the significant housing deficit that the country is experiencing, affecting approximately 1 in 3 families. Its main management focus will be to optimize public housing works nationwide, promoting the continuation of executions by private parties in projects already underway in provinces and municipalities.
According to sources from the former Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat, the current management inherits more than 100,000 homes under construction and 17,000 turnkey houses that are being built in housing complexes located in more than 59 cities in Argentina.
It is anticipated that the government plan will focus on addressing the critical housing situation. One of its fundamental goals is to benefit at least 3,000,000 families, facilitating the construction, expansion, repair or provision of basic services for their homes.
With more than 10,000 neighborhoods requiring improvements in their infrastructure, the repair of more than 200,000 multifamily buildings is contemplated, as proposed in the La Libertad Avanza campaign platform.
It is intended that the housing works continue with efficient financing, without depending exclusively on the national State.
A central element of the proposal involves dispensing with state financing for new housing construction.
The financing, coming from banks after addressing the issue of the Leliq and establishing conditions of legal security, will be directed towards private projects. The strategy seeks to convert public works into private initiatives, creating a virtuous circuit aimed at boosting job creation.
According to what has been reported, an exhaustive review of numerous agreements between companies in charge of the construction of units will be carried out, as part of public works. The objective is to optimize the efficiency of the State and guarantee that the housing sector does not generate deficits, thus contributing to savings in public spending.
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