Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados n. 22 Rio de Janeiro 1979
Abstract
This article aims at an analysis of the trajectory of low-cost housing policies beginning with the creation of the National Housing Bank (BNH, 1964/1979). The point of departure is the supposition that the performance of BNH with regard to policies of low-cost housing is the result of diverse factors, such as interaction with the political environment, the target client, its articulation with other institutions and social groups, the objectives assigned to it, its own goals developed in the course of its trajectory, and the professional paradigms which predominate internally, among others. BNH was created to construct, in particular, housing for families with a monthly income of between one and three minimum salaries. From the start, it attempted to implement a policy of economic rationality which would avoid direct subsidy and allow self-maintenance without depending on State support. The failure of this policy and the high level of payment defaults in the low-income associates which occurred in the first few years of its functioning (1964-69) resulted, beginning in 1970, in a considerable decrease in investments in low-cost housing and an emphasis on the construction of homes for the middle and upper segments of the middle class. Beginning in 1975 a resuscitation of low-cost housing occurred, and the payment defaults of the associates began to be resolved. Despite a complex of factors which led in this direction, the most important was the option of preferential attention to those with a monthly income of between 3 and 5 minimum salaries. Thus, the "cost" of resolving the problem of payment default was the abandonment of the original cliental of low-cost housing, for whom an alternative program of urbanized lots (PROFILURB) was created, which up to the present has showed no significant performance. It is hoped that the next few years will bring a considerable increase in building for low-income families, since the search for a political. system based on a more extensive social legitimation has emphasized the construction of low-cost housing. The data presented suggest that since 1964 there has been a possible association between greater investments in low-cost housing and periods in which the government sought wider support from the population. Meanwhile, various studies appear to indicate that only through initiatives based on self-construction, which is the normal practice in the working classes, will it be possible to improve considerably the problem of housing for the most needy sectors of the low-income population.
Política de Habitação Popular: Balanço e Perspectivas
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