CNL
is at the frontline of the battle to provide more housing

Most state funding for housing is handled by the Caisse Nationale du Logement, or CNL. Currently, it is financing the construction of about 60,000 housing units a year. Many of these are part of the government’s longstanding scheme to provide homes for the poorest strata of society, but CNL is also involved in rent-to-buy deals and housing grants.
In the view of General Manager Nacer Djama, CNL’s existence is testimony to the importance the state accords to housing issues. “The nation’s needs are considerable,” he says, “and it was necessary to bring together, within a single organization, all the resources that the state can channel into housing.”

While one often hears people in Algiers talking of a housing “crisis”, Mr. Djama prefers to put a more positive gloss on the situation. “This means that there is a market here,” he says. “Moreover, it is a market in which one can say that the state is fulfilling its share of responsibility, and which is open to the participation of the private sector, both domestic and foreign capital.”

A major part of CNL’s role these days is managing funds from abroad. “When the state attracts external funding, usually it is we who manage it,” says Mr. Djama. “That is basically our function. As an example, at the moment, we are managing a $150 million loan from the World Bank, earmarked for the replacement of unsafe housing.”
Indeed, the poor quality of some of Algeria’s existing housing stock is a serious matter for concern. “Nearly 50 percent dates from the colonial period,” says Mr. Djama, “and much is in need of restoring, or even demolition and replacement.”

He estimates that the current housing shortfall in Algeria is about a million units. But the projected need is higher than that. “If we think in terms of the next five to 10 years, then two million housing units need to be built, both to overcome the current chronic deficit and to satisfy additional demand,” he says. “It’s a virgin market, whether we’re talking about housing as such or all the associated equipment that will be needed.”
The state currently earmarks three percent of GDP to housing, supplemented by external funding. But Mr. Djama echoes the view expressed by many experts in the field that money isn’t the only concern.
“These days, our constraints are more in the field of the realization of projects, rather than financing,” he says. “In other words, how to bring quality into reality quickly. We have credit. We have political will. What we need now are efficient methods and modern technologies to make things happen.”

One challenge is to woo foreign investors into the housing sector itself, rather than into what many property developers might consider more attractive construction projects. “We have got foreign investors who have become involved, but more in office blocks and tourism facilities,” says Mr. Djama. “We are trying to create the most favorable conditions, including advantageous financing arrangements, to attract potential foreign investors into the housing market.”

At the same time, CNL is keen to make itself more customer-friendly by bringing itself closer to people who need access to funds to fulfill their dream of getting a home. It recently set up a web site. And for the past couple of years, people have been able to get information about, and access to, CNLs services at bank counters. “This is all part of the Ministry of Housing’s policy of communication leading to greater transparency,” says Mr. Djama.