Afghanistan's Housing Prices are Spiraling Out of Control

CARE
Tuesday, 14 May 2002

Humanitarian organizations call on the Interim Administration and the international community to address the housing needs of the Afghan poor.

In a statement released today, the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) expressed concerns that Afghanistan's housing prices are spiraling out of control and making a difficult situation worse for the Afghan poor.

"We didn't think we would face so many problems when we came back to Kabul," says Safia," a recent returnee, "especially when we heard about the money being given to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. But then we found we could not move back to our home in district 7 because of insecurity. To rent a house is not affordable any more, so we live in a shared house with my uncles."

Kabul's population is growing dramatically – more than 200,000 people have arrived in the past two months. Many parts of the city are still in ruins, and there is a chronic housing shortage, particularly at the lower end of the market. Moreover, Kabul's fragile infrastructure – water and sanitation supplies, transportation and power – already are stretched to the limit and may simply not be able to handle the added needs of tens of thousands more returnees.

"The Interim Administration can ease pressure on the housing market," says Ian Purves, executive coordinator of ACBAR. "Because there are few controls, rents are sky rocketing, and ordinary Afghans are being shut out. In some urban centers like Kabul and Herat, rents have multiplied 20 and 30 times. Many houses that rented for a few hundred dollars a month last year, now carry five-figure price tags. "

The massive influx of donors, the UN, the World Bank and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is adding to the housing problem. "When the international community and its staff are able to pay increasingly higher rents, they trigger a cycle of evictions down through the housing market that ultimately affects low- and middle-income earners," comments Mr. Mayar, an Afghan representative of Solidarites. "In real terms, my salary has gone down this year," he says.

"The international community bears other responsibilities as well," says Sally Austin, assistant country director for CARE in Afghanistan. "Until peacekeepers expand beyond Kabul, more and more people are going to flock to the capital. There is no international plan to ensure security throughout Afghanistan until an Afghan security force is equipped and trained more than a year from now," Austin says. "Even in Kabul, there are areas where many Afghans no longer want to live due to insecurity because the international security force is not present."

The international community and Interim Administration can take steps to ease pressures on the housing market. NGOs continue to call for an international plan that supports the government's efforts to guarantee the immediate security needs of all Afghans. NGOs also recommend that the Afghan authorities:

- Allocate more money to housing in the National Development Budget;
- Take concrete measures to protect the right to shelter of all Afghans, including protection from unlawful evictions and provision of appropriate shelter for particularly vulnerable populations;
- Impose rent controls to protect lower income brackets from high rents;
- Clamp down on corruption by landlords who are seeking to avoid taxes;
- Relax current restrictions on housing reconstruction at the lower end of the market; and

Ensure security and provision of services (electricity, water and sanitation) in those areas of Kabul that are presently under-populated.

For more information, or to contact CARE, see their website at: www.care.org