Iraq Launches Comprehensive National Plan to Address Housing Crisis and Reduce Deficit

The Ministry of Construction, Housing, and Public Municipalities unveiled its National Housing Policy (2025-2030) and strategic plans to tackle the country's housing crisis, targeting a 50% reduction in the deficit by 2030. Nabil Al-Saffar, the Ministry's spokesperson, stated the "National Housing Policy, for 2025-2030, is an integrated roadmap developed with international organizations." He explained it "rests on key pillars: land management, financing mechanisms, infrastructure, building materials, and post-construction maintenance." Al-Saffar added that "recent census results show Iraq's housing deficit between 2.3 million and 2.4 million units." He affirmed "this deficit can be halved within five years, if residential city projects and the real estate developer system continue." He noted "the Prime Minister's vision for one million housing units aligns fully with the National Policy and New Residential Cities Authority." He clarified "distributing unserviced lands ended, having failed to achieve desired results and contributing to informal settlements. The current focus relies solely on real estate developers to ensure basic services initially." The spokesperson confirmed "work is underway in five new cities to build units (Al-Jawahiri, Ali Al-Wardi, Al-Ghazlani, Dhifaf Karbala, and Al-Jana'in)." He emphasized "solutions won't be limited to overcrowded Baghdad, but will extend to all governorates via expansion beyond city centers." Regarding Bismaya city, he remarked "it was successful but faced setbacks due to reliance on government partnership and funding. The Ministry now favors models relying more on self-financing investors."