The national government launched a new housing program that seeks to optimize the housing conditions of Colombians. Through the Ministry of Housing, a new strategy was devised to improve the properties of thousands of families living in substandard conditions.
The Cambia Mi Casa program is the most ambitious in terms of housing under Gustavo Petro’s government. It seeks to improve 400,000 properties that are in need of repair to provide decent living conditions for families. The measure comes as a response to the 2021 Quality of Life Survey, which found that at least 31% of Colombians live in housing shortage.
Program access is divided into three areas: households with inadequate conditions, community organizations and regional bodies.
Who can access Change My House?
The Cambia Mi Casa housing subsidy will use the Sisbane IV database as a means to verify the vulnerability statuses of households that are interested in applying for a subsidy to improve their home.
The main requirement to be a beneficiary is that the participating households have a classification through the Sisben survey, and that places them in the C18 group or a group below.
Families and interested individuals must also meet the following conditions:
- stay home to intervene
- Be a home owner or owner for at least five years prior to applying for the subsidy
- The value of the house as per cadastral assessment should be less than the vis limit (social welfare housing)
- During the last ten years, barring a few exceptions, none of its members should have benefited from the family subsidy for housing by way of acquisition.
Which households apply to the Change My Home subsidy?
The Cambia Mi Casa program will be implemented in both urban and rural areas in sensitive situations. Families with the following housing conditions can use this benefit:
Urban housing
- no more than two and no more than four people per sleeping room
- no sewer connection
- not having a toilet or having or having no connection to a septic tank; toilet; With direct discharge of water sources (low tide)
- no connection to aqueduct
- have dirt, sand, or clay floors
- exterior walls made of unsuitable materials (rough timbers, boards or planks; reeds, mats, or other vegetables; waste materials, or the absence of walls)
- no room for exclusive kitchen use
Urban housing
- have more than two people per sleeping room
- Get water from non-conventional sources (unpumped well, reservoir, puddle or stream; rainwater; river, stream, spring or birth; car tank; water tank; or bottled or bagged water)
- having no toilet or with or without connection to a septic tank; toilet; With direct discharge of water sources (low tide)
- have dirt, sand, or clay floors
- exterior walls made of unsuitable materials (rough timbers, boards or planks; reeds, mats, or other vegetables; waste materials, or the absence of walls)
- no room for exclusive kitchen use
