Land Shortage For Social Housing Projects

The lack of land and the high prices of the available lots slow down the development of social housing in Liberia, Guanacaste. Just in Liberia there are about 5,000 families waiting in line for housing bonds and the government can’t do anything due to the lack of lots for building.

A 160 square meter lot (1,721 square feet) in Liberia cost one million Colones five years ago, today that same lot goes for twelve million Colones.

The Mayor, Carlos Marín, said that they have looked for land but they have not found any or the owners do not want to sell. The prices are so high that the Controller’s division will not authorize the negotiation to build these kinds of houses.

“We are afraid of a social conflict. All these people are going to be overcrowding the most vulnerable areas (barrios) and we are going to have areas of poverty in Liberia” said Marín.

The Mayor also said that due to the elevated price of the land, the government has almost no housing projects in Guanacaste. 120 families in Santa Cruz are having difficulties finding a place to live after the last rainy season destroyed their houses.

Jorge Chavarría, Mayor of Santa Cruz, assured that they are evaluating some pieces of land, but another 300 bond requests are been waiting in line.

Nicoya and Santa Cruz Real Estate – Limited supply.

Ericka Matute can be happy now in her new house in the residential area called Bosques Don José in Nicoya. She was living a nightmare before she got her own house, due to the lack of housing in Nicoya.

Ericka was born in Tibás, San José and came to Guanacaste in 2000 to live and fulfil her career goals working as a pharmacist. She first lived in an old, deteriorated house sharing the bathroom with somebody else, then she moved from house to house, avoiding rats, cockroaches, thieves and even the danger of being squashed by the beams of an old roof.

She said that the problem in Nicoya is the lack of houses and the few ones that exists are old and in terrible conditions. Her housing nightmare is still shared by many doctors, nurses, teachers or business managers that due to their jobs have to live in the area.

The Mayor of Santa Cruz, Jorge Chavarría explained that the Municipality is helping some hotels find lands close to the coast to construct apartment buildings to relocate their employees.

Many of the employees that the hotels have hired in San José are living in rented small rooms in the neighboring houses because, there’s nothing else available.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.