New Minha Casa, Minha Vida inherits liabilities from 130,000 delayed or paralyzed homes

The new Minha Casa, Minha Vida will begin with a liability of 130,500 homes whose works are delayed or paralyzed. The main challenge for the federal government will be to deliver the projects in progress at the same time that it unlocks the hiring of new projects.

The Ministry of Cities survey obtained by the Sheet shows that there are 1,115 developments delayed or paralyzed, all still from Minha Casa, Minha Vida. The oldest had the contract signed in 2009, the year it was launched, but most were hired between 2014 and 2018.

Together, the projects have already received contributions of R$ 4.8 billion, with the majority (R$ 3.8 billion) going to paralyzed works.

The data, however, may undergo revision. Government members say they have found inconsistencies in numbers received from the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government. There is information, for example, of infrastructure works that have already been completed and that, in the government system, were still incomplete.

One of these paralyzed works is located in Riacho Fundo II, a city in the Federal District, 28 km from Praça dos Três Poderes.

There are four condominiums of buildings that together should have 924 housing units. The contracts with Direcional Engenharia were signed in 2012, but today what you see on the site is an open hole to build the foundation of one of the condominiums.

The long period of abandonment associated with the rainy season in the region transformed the scenario into a floodplain. Around the fence, the Sheet found horses grazing. A little further on, residents of the city improvised a soccer field.

When contacted, Direcional said that “it is unaware of the projects mentioned and that, in its more than 40 years, it has never failed to deliver a contracted work”. Asked why the company was identified as responsible for the project according to the Ministry of Cities, the construction company said it “is seeking clarification from the public administration on the case”.

The condominium in front of this area, called Ipê Amarelo, had the contract signed in 2015 and was completed. Both he and the four arrears are earmarked for band 2 of the housing program — families with a monthly income of up to R$4,000.

The relaunch of Minha Casa, Minha Vida is one of the priorities of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and the new design is in charge of the Ministry of Cities and the Civil House, who are working on an MP (provisional measure) to relaunch the program.

There are currently around 180,000 works under contract for the housing program. One of the reasons for the stoppage of projects is the increase in costs in the civil construction sector.

Last year, Bolsonaro edited a decree that increases the limits of economic subsidy to beneficiary families of the Casa Verde e Amarela Program – which replaced the previous Minha Casa, Minha Vida.

According to the rule, the new limits for production and acquisition of new or used properties are now R$ 130,000 in urban areas and R$ 55,000 in rural areas.

Part of the stoppage of works is related to the exceeding of this limit of R$ 130 thousand.

The Lula government is evaluating a review of this ceiling. The argument is that, while the work is stopped, there are losses, such as thefts and depredation of what has already been built.

The Minister of Cities, Jader Filho (MDB), says at meetings to discuss the relaunch of the program that delivering overdue housing units will be the federal government’s first task.

The concern with paralyzed or delayed construction still arose in the transitional government team. According to the final report on the subject, there was a risk of not delivering 44,000 homes in the modality for municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants.

To try to remedy the situation, the group suggested the resumption of paralyzed works in 90 days.

Minister Jader Filho has been meeting with several representatives of the sector to structure the provisional measure with the relaunch of the program.

At these meetings, the president of the CBIC (Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry), José Carlos Martins, asked for a reduction in the period between the bidding process to resume the paralyzed work and the restart of construction.

“This has taken a long time and sometimes leaves it out of the game because when it comes to signing it is no longer worth it,” he explained. This is because the longer the delay, the greater the difference between what was budgeted by the construction company and the actual price of the work.

Evaniza Rodrigues, a member of the Union of Housing Movements, recalls that a PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) was approved that reserved part of the resources needed for works on Minha Casa, Minha Vida in 2023. “Without that, there would be no money for January “, it says. Now, she continues, “the challenge is to finish what’s in progress and start new ones.”

According to members of the Planalto Palace, in addition to resuming stalled and delayed works, Lula wants to boost the hiring of new projects for the poorest population.

By creating Casa Verde e Amarela, the Bolsonaro government ended the conditions given to track 1 (lower income families) of the former PT brand program.

In the old Minha Casa Minha Vida, this segment was for families with a gross income of up to R$1,800 per month (value used in 2020) who could sign contracts with a subsidy of up to 90% of the value of the property, without interest.

In the reformulation of the housing program, Lula wants to recreate this segment and also readjust the income limit.