Year 4, Volume 1: National Office: Advocacy

Inadequate Housing in Argentina: An open debate

What does deficit housing mean and where do we get the statistics

The word “deficit” means “lack of the necessary”. By this we understand that “housing deficit” means the lack of adequate housing in this country.

In Argentina it is difficult to establish the extent of the housing deficit in exact numbers. The evaluation of the housing situation tends to be done with long intervals of time in between, and is subject to economic and political modifications. Nevertheless, there are organizations that create indicators with which to measure the housing situation in the country. By evaluating the finding of several organizations it is possible to come up with a rough estimate of deficit housing.

We utilize international resources (U.N. Habitat CEPAL) as well as national resources (INDEC, Censes, EPH (Permanent Homes Census) or universities) and we conclude that in Argentina there are 4,000,000 families that suffer some sort of basic housing need.