اخبار ليبيا اليوم – وطن نيوز
اخر اخبار ليبيا- اخبار ليبيا الان
W6nnews.com ==== وطن === تاريخ النشر – 2026-07-11 21:49:00
At a time when the housing crisis is escalating in Libya amid rising real estate and rent prices and increasing demand for housing units, the government’s program to create 150,000 housing units raises questions about its real ability to address a gap that has accumulated for decades, and the extent of the market, banks, and legislative structure’s readiness to transform the announced numbers into actual housing that reaches citizens and alleviates their suffering. Regarding this, businessman Hosni Bey confirmed, in a statement to the “Libya Eye” network, that the government’s program to create 150,000 housing units may contribute to alleviating part of the housing deficit in Libya, but it only represents the growing demand within two years, and he will not be able to solve the crisis alone, stressing that evaluating the success of any housing policy must not depend on the number of units announced only, but rather on the location of their implementation, documentation, beneficiaries, financing mechanisms, time period for completion, and availability. Infrastructure, services and job opportunities in the places where they are created. Hosni Bey said that the construction of 150,000 housing units could alleviate part of the existing deficit, but it will not completely solve the crisis in light of population growth exceeding 100,000 annually, the formation of new families annually of no less than 70,000 families annually, and the presence of accumulated demand for housing for many decades. He pointed out that Libya has a large stock of stalled residential projects with different degrees of completion, which is an enormous financial wealth if the land and what is on it are valued, and the number of its units is estimated at about 380 thousand units with a value of no less than 60 billion dinars, considering that the economic priority is not always launching new projects, but rather in inventorying existing projects, evaluating them, and completing those that are executable, instead of freezing more public funds in new projects that may stop later. He explained that the state’s responsibility is not to provide free real estate ownership to every citizen, because that is impossible, as this is something that no country in the world can afford in a sustainable manner, stressing that the state’s role is to ensure the existence of a decent ceiling that protects the citizen, especially vulnerable groups, through social rent, targeted support, and market regulation, and does not go to the transfer of real estate ownership. Regarding the concentration of about 45% of the housing deficit in Greater Tripoli and 25% in Benghazi, Hosni Bey explained that these percentages, if correct, reflect a deeper problem than just the lack of units, which is the concentration of population, jobs, services, universities, and public administration in the two cities. He warned that creating more housing inside Tripoli and Benghazi, before completing what was started but not accomplished, or without an integrated urban vision, may lead to increased congestion and pressure on roads, electricity, water, sanitation, schools, and hospitals, instead of addressing the crisis. He stressed that the solution must be based on three parallel paths: completing stalled projects within major cities and linking them to infrastructure and public transportation, and developing integrated urban suburbs and cities that are not just isolated residential clusters, but rather provide jobs, services, education, and health, in addition to supporting development in other cities and regions, because the citizen will not move to a new city just because of a home, but rather needs a source of income, a school, a hospital, a road, and public services. Hosni Bey stressed that housing must be part of a regional development policy, and not just the process of building apartments to satisfy every citizen. Regarding the issue of high prices for apartments and rents, Hosni Bey said that the reasons for the gap are multiple and one party cannot be held responsible, explaining that there is a real shortage in the ready and habitable supply in exchange for increasing demand, especially in Tripoli and Benghazi, and demand is usually the determinant of the price. He added that the high cost of construction represents a major factor due to the decline in the value of the dinar, and the high prices of imported and local building materials, despite support for production with almost free energy, in addition to transportation and labor costs, in addition to the risks of stopping projects, unstable legislation, and delays in paying dues. He also pointed out the role of real estate speculation, and some owners keeping real estate and lands without development, waiting for prices to rise in the absence of implementing the issued but not implemented real estate tax, in addition to the absence of accurate information about prices and transactions. He explained that the closure and weakness of the real estate registry, the disruption of the registration of mortgages, disputes over ownership, and the effects of Law No. 4 of 1978, which has not yet been repealed, contributed to distorting the real estate market and reducing confidence in ownership and long-term investment, stressing that the housing gap is not only a construction crisis, but rather a crisis of ownership, legislation, financing, planning, and the absence of an organized and transparent real estate market. Regarding the ability of Libyan banks to finance citizens with long-term housing loans, Hosni Bey explained that their current ability to finance housing for twenty or thirty years is very limited with the ongoing inflation, indicating that the bank cannot grant long-term real estate financing simply by having a government decision, but rather needs a set of basic conditions. He explained that these conditions include the presence of a reliable, electronic, and tamper-proof real estate registry (Block Chain), the possibility of registering a mortgage, clarity of ownership of the land and the unit, protection of the bank’s right to guarantee in the event of default, the presence of regular income that can be measured, the availability of insurance for the property and the borrower, in addition to the presence of long-term sources of financing with banks. He pointed out that most Libyan bank deposits are short-term and on demand, while housing financing extends for twenty or thirty years, which creates a large gap between deposit terms and loan terms. He stressed that a citizen whose income does not exceed 3 thousand dinars as a result of a deduction of 6 thousand dinars in exchange for fuel and energy subsidies cannot buy a unit worth 400 thousand dinars with a regular commercial loan, even if the loan extends for twenty years, because the installment will exceed his financial capacity. He pointed out the need for an integrated system that includes mortgages, housing savings funds, partial and thoughtful guarantees for some segments, graded financing, and rent-to-own in some cases. He warned against financing through the creation of new money from the central bank to finance a government budget deficit, whether it is a government or several governments, all of which are public spending, because that will raise inflation and construction costs, and may make the citizen pay for the house twice: once through installments, and once through the decline in the purchasing power of the dinar. Regarding the time period required to address the housing crisis, Hosni Bey said that a crisis that has accumulated over decades cannot be solved with a single project or within a year or two, but rather requires years. He explained that if registered lands, ready designs, clear financing, capable contractors, and guaranteed infrastructure are available, the citizen may begin to see units completed gradually within three years, but the crisis will not end until after 5 to 7 years. He added that the complete completion of a program of this size in a realistic way may require a period ranging between five and seven years and perhaps more, depending on locations, financing and infrastructure, while addressing the housing crisis in general requires an ongoing program that may extend from ten to fifteen years that includes completing stalled projects, creating new units, developing the rental market, launching real estate financing, expanding cities and infrastructure, and stimulating the private sector. He stressed that announcing 150,000 units as if they would be completed and delivered in one go is technically and financially unrealistic. Regarding ensuring that the initiative does not stop, as happened with previous housing projects, Hosni Bey said that the guarantee does not lie in the statements, but rather in the legal, financial, and implementation model. He called for the data of each project to be published clearly, including land ownership and value, the number of units and their specifications, the cost of infrastructure, the source of financing, the timetable, the name of the developer and contractor, completion rates, the mechanism of allocation, sale or lease, and penalties for delay. He stressed the need to separate the role of the state from the role of the investor and the role of the contractor, so that the state is a regulator, monitor, and partner with the value of the land or the money it paid before 2011, and not a contractor, financier, distributor, and manager at the same time. In the stalled projects, he proposed a model based on the landowner, whether the state or the private sector, obtaining a share equivalent to the value of the land and the right of ownership, and the public treasury obtaining a share equivalent to the value of the works, infrastructure, and the money it had previously spent, while the new investor gets the share corresponding to the new funds that he will pump, the risks he will bear, and his responsibility for completion and marketing. He explained that this model gives each contribution a known value and each party a clear share, instead of considering the land worthless or considering public funds as expenses that ended without compensation. He stressed the necessity of having an independent body that follows up projects and publishes quarterly reports on implementation rates, costs, and deviations from schedules. Hosni Bey warned that if the current situation continues without real intervention, the housing crisis will worsen over the next five years, as a result of increased demand due to population growth and the formation of new families, while the supply remains less than needed, in addition to the rise in the cost of construction with inflation and exchange rate fluctuations, which will be reflected in the prices of apartments and rents. He pointed out that the housing crisis may transform from an economic problem into a social problem that appears in the late age of marriage, crowding of more than one family inside one dwelling, moving to unplanned buildings and areas, random expansion on agricultural land, increasing disputes over ownership and rents, and a widening gap between those who own a property and those who do not. He added that the state’s pumping of large sums of money into construction without reforming the market, financing, and land registry may lead to prices rising instead of falling, because increasing cash spending without a rapid increase in production will result in inflation in land, building materials, and wages. Hosni Bey explained that if he were responsible for this file, the first decision he would make would be to stop treating the project as a total political figure, and divide it into independent projects that are measurable, financeable, and accountable. He said that he would begin by inventorying and classifying all residential projects and lands allocated for housing into three categories: projects that can be completed immediately, projects that need restructuring and an investment partner, and useless projects that must be stopped or their use changed. He added that a financial and technical card must be published for each project, the rights of the parties must be determined, and the projects must be offered to developers and investors according to a transparent competition, with a timetable, implementation guarantees, and clear penalties. Regarding the state’s share of existing and unfinished units, Hosni Bey said that he does not see their distribution as free property, but rather collecting them in a national portfolio for social rent and allocating them to vulnerable groups with a rent not exceeding 25% of the prevailing rental value, or a percentage commensurate with the family’s income, with the requirement of actual residence and prohibiting leasing to others. He explained that after twenty years of regular use and payment of obligations, the tenant can be granted the right to purchase the unit at a subsidized price such as 50% of its market value at the date of transfer of ownership, provided that the unit remains a public asset before purchase and may not be sold or rented to others or its ownership bequeathed. He pointed out that a partially capable citizen can purchase a unit from the share of the developer or investor through long-term real estate financing according to his ability to repay. Hosni Bey concluded his statement by saying that the state is not obligated to give every citizen a free property, but it is obligated not to leave a citizen without a roof to protect him, stressing that the right to housing is the responsibility of the state, but free ownership for all is an unfair and unsustainable promise. He added that Libya tried the model of comprehensive state intervention in the real estate market through Law No. 4 of 1978. Before 2011, it also tried launching a huge program estimated at about 380,000 housing units, and the result was the disruption of a large number of projects and the freezing of billions of dinars. He stressed the necessity of not repeating the same experience under a new title, stressing that what is required is not for the state to build and grant, but rather to organize, participate and protect: regulate the market, share its land and money, and protect groups that cannot access housing on their own. Suggest a correction
