Access to adequate housing is one of the Central American state’s greatest social debts, adds the report “Overview of the Situation and Trends in the Housing and Human Settlements Sector 2024: Progress, Obstacles, and Challenges,” cited by the newspaper.

According to the document from the UCR Graduate Program in Architecture, despite the 4.3 percent economic growth recorded in 2024 and the creation of more than 112,000 jobs, housing opportunities continue to remain unchanged, the provision of housing vouchers has decreased, and credit conditions lack significant progress.

Economic growth, it warns, is insufficient without a guarantee of safe, inclusive, and affordable homes, the report emphasizes, adding that the aforementioned housing deficit is the sum of the quantitative (13,245 homes), the number of homes in poor condition (115,120), and those causing overcrowding (16,819).

For researcher and co-author of the report, Franklin Solano, “behind these numbers are families living in inadequate conditions and entire communities still waiting for solutions. We need more focused territorial policies to address these inequalities,” he emphasized.

The report also highlights the differences in land costs for building homes across the country, such as the Greater Metropolitan Area, where the average price per square meter is $285, but reaches $1,837 in more central areas, which makes affordable housing projects more expensive.

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