22.03.2005 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Iraqi families have no homes following the conflict in 2003 ("original document (English)") [ID 10855]

"Over 300 people demonstrated on Tuesday at the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, calling on the government to allow them to stay in government buildings as they have no homes following the conflict in 2003."

Document(s): original document (English)

08.12.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Diyala / Khanaqin: Demand for more housing in Khanaqin ("original document") [ID 10856]

"Like the rest of Diyala governorate, Khanaqin has been flooded with IDPs since last year's conflict. Local officials say 300 Kurdish families have returned there from Iran. More significantly, Khanaqin has been one of the major focus points for Kurds fleeing the cities of Sunni central Iraq."

Document(s): original document

23.11.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Baghdad: Rents Go Through the Roof ("original document") [ID 10857]

"Rents in the Iraqi capital are continuing to rise as foreign businesses and desperate refugees flood in. By Hussein Ali and Ali Marzook in Baghdad (ICR No. 91, 23-Nov-04) Despite the deteriorating security situation in Baghdad, people are continuing to stream into the Iraqi capital, sustaining the recent boom in the property rental market with some houses in the city now being rented out for five or six times the normal market rate.

Rental prices rose sharply following the war as foreign companies entered the market, offering both higher rates for properties and better salaries for their Iraqi employees. Additionally, many Iraqis who were barred from living in Baghdad under the former regime moved to the capital when the restrictions on their movement were lifted, while others were forced to leave neighbouring towns by the upsurge in violence.

Radhi Abdul Kadir, who owns the Sumer firm of estate agents in the Risala district of the city, said, “After the fall of the regime, the average Iraqi salary rose as foreign companies set up here and had more money to spend. This led directly to a 300 per cent increase in property rental prices.

"In Saddam's time, rental prices for a house in upmarket neighborhoods like al-Mansoor or al-Jadiriya were around 400 US dollars. Nowadays, the rental price for a normal house is 1,500 dollars,” said Abdul Majeed, owner of the Shiraa estate agency. “As for the big villas in those areas which are being snapped up by companies and non-government organisations, prices have shot up from 2,500 a month to 10,000. The highest rents are still in al-Ameerat.”

Saad al-Naili, who runs an estate agency in the poor district of al-Amel, says that even there, rental prices have gone through the roof. “A modest house used to go for around 35 dollars a month. Now it’s going for as much as 200,” he said.

The spiralling rents have forced some people out of the market altogether, with a growing number of poor people now squatting in abandoned government buildings and offices. Their main fear is being evicted by the authorities.

Ahlam Meethaq, a widow with three children, said, “We’re squatting in an old government building because we just can’t afford to live anywhere else. We were living in a mud hut but it was barely fit for animals. This was the only alternative.”

Prices jumped again earlier this year, as thousands of people began to leave neighbouring cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi for the relative safety of the capital following air attacks by US-led forces. With their lives at risk, people were willing to pay any price for some guarantee of security.

In the past six weeks, another surge of refugees has flooded into the capital from cities in the Sunni triangle, pushing rents up to five times the normal market price. Houses in average middle-class areas are now being rented out for 600 dollars, up from 150 this time last year.

“I live in al-Qasr neighborhood, in the centre of the town of Yusifiya near Baghdad. The so-called mujahedin made us leave our house because the area was about to become their centre of operations,” said painter and decorator Saif Waleed.

“The situation was becoming unbearable anyway. The Salafis [a fundamental Sunni group] were slaughtering the police, members of the National Guard and anyone they thought was working with the Americans. I’ve taken a three month lease on a house in Baghdad for 600 dollars a month until the situation improves and I can move back home.”

Some refugees complain that people are exploiting them because the situation has become so bad. “I know the house I rented isn’t worth what I’m paying for it,” said Naji Sameer al-Dulaimi, from Fallujah. “The landlord is taking advantage of our situation. He knows we have no choice but to agree.”

Even properties in outlying suburbs of the capital like the notorious Sadr City and al-Taji have become more expensive, renters say.

In the so-called Green Zone, however, residents remain unwilling to either rent or sell their properties, even for the millions of dollars they would be able fetch in the current climate.

Despite the inherent danger of living in the frequently-mortared area, residents say they prefer to stay in their own homes and take care of them themselves.

“We know this is a dangerous spot, but I don’t want to rent out my house in case the people who move in won’t leave when we want them to. And besides, why should we leave the house we own to go and rent someone else’s?” said long-time resident Hassan Moomen. Hussein Ali and Ali Marzook are IWPR trainees in Baghdad."

Document(s): original document

20.10.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Baghdad: price to rent a house tripled or jumped four-fold ("original document") [ID 10858]

"(...) In some neighbourhoods, such as the Baghdad district of Sadr city, the price for a 150 square metre house has nearly tripled, to around 50 million dinars. In the al-Jadeda district, which is little better than Sadr city, prices for a 200 sq m home has jumped four-fold to 100 million dinars. (...)"

Document(s): original document

28.09.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Northern Iraq: Urgency to build houses in remote north before winter ("original document") [ID 10859]

Document(s): original document

20.07.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Explosion in house prices ("original document") [ID 10860]

Information that construction boom in the three governorates Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah leads to increase of house prices.

"Increased construction has seen a corresponding explosion in house prices. A year ago, a 200 square-metre house in the up-market Shorj district of Arbil would have cost around $20,000. Now, prices are five times as much."

Document(s): original document

08.06.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

New housing project for displaced people ("original document") [ID 10861]

Information about the tens of thousand IDP from the north who have been displaced after the fall of the regime. Housing is desperately needed.

"BAGHDAD, 8 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - Men in blue overalls laying the concrete foundations of new apartment buildings in the hot noon-day heat are the new face of Iraq's largely stalled reconstruction effort. They're slapping concrete between the boards of the foundations to hold them together. Piles of steel girders rest between the foundations, along with sacks of dry cement.

The construction site, off a highway just north of Baghdad, is a hive of activity with men wiring together metal stanchions and mixing cement. Engineers stand in the sparse shade of a nearby building watching over the construction crews.

The new housing project appears to be the first major housing construction in Iraq in over a year, according to figures from the Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction. Previously, Coalition forces had cleaned up and repaired some bombed buildings. They've hired contractors to rebuild walls, patch roofs and put new fixtures in the bathrooms of ministries and some other government buildings.

All told, however, construction projects - whether residential or commercial - that were on the drawing board or under way when US-led forces swept into Iraq 14 months ago have been stalled until now.

When it's all finished, the almost 300 new units will be the start of the housing needed for an estimated 70,000-100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were kicked out of houses in northern Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Most were living in former Iraqi army bases and other unused government buildings. The project cost was originally estimated at US $4.7 million; it could now be twice that because of increases in the prices of materials in the last year, said Sabah Sablir, general manager of the project. US administrators are paying for the construction, he explained.

"The housing issue is an enormous one here," Omar al-Faruk al-Danaluji, the new minister of housing and reconstruction, told IRIN in Baghdad. "Even when we finish all of the residential projects we have planned, it will only represent 1 percent of the housing we need." There are an estimated one million displaced people in Iraq, with some 800,000 in the north, according to official statistics.

More recently, fighting in the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, also increased the numbers of displaced as homes were destroyed. According to estimates in April 2004, more than 50,000 were displaced. Aid agencies and government officials estimate the need of nearly 1 million houses in order to meet the needs of displaced people.

Lack of housing is just one of the most visible reconstruction needs in Iraq. Even though millions of dollars in donor aid have been pledged to the country, on the ground Iraqis complain that they haven't seen much change since US-led forces swept into the country a little more than a year ago.

Electricity cuts are still common and rubbish is often piled in the street. Worse, now, is the volatile security situation, with regular explosions or gunfire in the capital and other big cities.

"The thing is, up until now, we didn't see money pouring into the country to create jobs," al-Danaluji said. "But now, I think we will witness a construction revolution in Iraq."

Al-Danaluji knows the figures - international donors have pledged $33 billion to rebuild Iraq. The US Congress alone has pledged $18.4 billion. He said he didn't understand what was taking so long for the money to arrive.

Security problems cause foreign investors and donors to stay away, a vicious cycle that has caused more security problems, al-Danaluji said. "It's much more difficult to start the train than when it is rolling," al-Danaluji said. "But as the projects start, more people will work, and the situation will get better."

Displaced people aren't the only ones who need new homes, al-Danaluji said. Many people are still returning from Iran, who had been forced out under the former regime. And many buildings that were neglected under the former regime should be knocked down and rebuilt, al-Danaluji said.

Similar apartment building complexes will be built in Karbala, in southern Iraq, and Kirkuk, in the north, with projects recently approved by US administrator Paul Bremer. Up to $15 million is allocated for each site. Six new construction projects will start very soon, said Akeel al-Ansari, deputy minister at the ministry of housing and construction.

"Income from oil revenues will help us a lot in the rebuilding this country," al-Danaluji said. "Iraq is extremely rich in natural resources. Give us a chance and we will definitely do the reconstruction we need.""

Document(s): original document

19.03.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Reconstruction experts believe 84,000 families without houses in Iraq ("original document") [ID 10862]

Information about lack of housing, Palestinian families who were forced out and rapidly rising rents in some parts of the country.

Document(s): original document

26.02.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Dire need for additional housing in the country. ("original document") [ID 10863]

Information about the general problems with housing in the whole country.

Document(s): original document

25.02.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

North Iraq: Housing programme in north faces difficult choices ("original document") [ID 10864]

Informationen about problems with housing of IDPs.

Document(s): original document

24.12.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Interview with Housing and Construction Minister ("original document") [ID 10865]

"(...) Baker Jabor, a civil engineer and Iraq's new housing and construction minister, expects to disburse more than US $533 million in the coming months for various infrastructure projects around the country, including several large road-building projects.

Under former President Saddam Hussein, the housing and construction ministry's primary function was to build the more than 70 lavish palaces and government buildings around Iraq. In an interview with IRIN in the capital, Baghdad, he said internally displaced people were high on the list of his priorities.

QUESTION: I understand you will build new housing for people displaced from their homes?

ANSWER: We talked to United Nations-Habitat officials now in Amman concerning housing. There are experts from the ministries of planning and public works working on it as well. We expect construction companies from Egypt, Syria and the United Arab Emirates to build 3,500 units of housing in Najaf, Maysan Governorate, Basra, Diwaniyah and Hillah. We actually have no plan to solve the crisis of people who have been forced out of their houses, but the private sector will contribute. Those new buildings will solve the housing crisis.

Q: Where will the housing be located and how much will it cost?

A: We want to put houses by the highways since the streets of Baghdad are so crowded. New housing will be built in the suburbs outside of Baghdad. We’re looking at sites at the former military Rashid camp and the former military airport. There should be more clinics, police stations and schools in these areas. We have a very ambitious plan to use these areas for housing, or they could also have parks for children, public gardens or football stadiums.

Q: How will families pay for the new housing?

A: We are asking foreign banks to help us. They are capable of lending money, so people can buy apartments like those found in other countries. I have been living for 20 years abroad, so I know what a distinguished building should look like. Here in Baghdad, you will see modern buildings go up.

Q: What other construction projects are you doing?

A: After meeting with officials in Iran, we decided to build a 'pilgrim’s highway' between Iran and Iraq, which will be supported by foreign companies. We may also get money from the Madrid donors' conference for the highway. Religious pilgrims will also pay a transit tax when they use the highway. We also agreed with foreign companies in Turkey to build an express-way from north to south, which would be very useful to move goods [on].

Q: Are you working with the Coalition Provisional Authority on these contracts or with the US military, or both?

A: Many countries attending the Madrid conference in October pledged $33 million to us as a gift. By February, you will start to see the flow of this money. This is expected to be money for in-kind materials or machinery.

Q: Do you expect to get money from the US Congress for your projects?

A: The re-formed Ministry of Planning will control the $18.6 billion [approved by Congress for Iraq's reconstruction]. We expect to get $500 million for road and bridge projects, but there is nothing in the budget for housing. We asked for it, but they didn’t give it to us, because they are thinking to solve the issue through the private sector.

Q: Did you find any leftover construction project money from Saddam Hussein’s time?

A: The former government had too much money in other Arab countries. Much of it is in Lebanon, some of it in private banks. We’re afraid the private sector is using this money, so we have to track it down. There are also hundreds of millions in the names of Uday and Qusay [Saddam's sons, who were killed by US troops]. It’s not under the name of the Iraqi government, so it’s hard for us to find.

Q: What happened to that money?

A: This money legally belongs to the Iraqi government, so there’s no doubt the minister of finance will pay a visit to Lebanon and other countries to find out what is happening to it. There are some companies that Uday Hussein invested in. Every country in the world needs to take this issue up, because it’s for the rebuilding of our country.

Q: What is your top priority for the future?

A: We have a great amount of money in neighbouring countries, and we are negotiating to get it back. This will help Iraq to breathe again, to stand alongside its neighbours as a sovereign country.

Q: You recently met with other ministers in countries around the region. What did you find out?

A: We went to Tehran, Damascus and Amman. It was the first official visit by new leaders in Iraq to those countries. We met with ministers of foreign affairs of those countries and discussed continuing protocol between Iraq and its neighbours. In Iran, we also met the minister of housing and construction. In Turkey, we talked to the ministers of housing, trade and industry. This is very important because it’s a legal acknowledgement that they recognise the [US-appointed Iraqi] Governing Council."

Document(s): original document

11.12.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Focus on much needed housing for Kurds ("IRIN: Focus on much needed housing for Kurds") [ID 10866]

Document(s): IRIN: Focus on much needed housing for Kurds