Controversy Erupts as Moroccan Expats Eligible for New Housing Aid Program

As of January 5, 24% of the 7,961 registered to receive housing aid are Moroccans residing abroad (MREs). The new direct housing aid program launched by King Mohammed VI to replace the 250,000 DH apartment program is attracting the interest of MREs. Only Moroccans residing in Morocco or abroad, who are not homeowners in Morocco and who have never benefited from housing aid, will be the beneficiaries of the aid. But the inclusion of MREs in the program is causing lively controversy.

On the web, criticism and questions are emerging among Moroccan Internet users. Some think that the ideal would be to exclude MREs from the program or to make Moroccans residing in Morocco the only beneficiaries. Others are concerned that the housing purchased by MREs, as part of this program, will feed the black market, with the consequence of an explosion in rental prices. But according to the Ministry of Housing, once the owner, resident or not, the person concerned cannot rent their property, nor use it for professional purposes. MREs will be required to keep these homes for 5 years as their main residence in the Kingdom. They can also make them available free of charge to their spouses, ascendants or descendants in direct line in the first degree.

"It is a housing aid for the most destitute in principle. Integrating the MREs amounts to circumventing the purpose. People are not against helping the MREs but against diverting aid in favor of others to whom it is not intended," comments an Internet user on X cited by H24info. "[...] I don’t know if the MREs are eligible even economically, because this type of housing is for the most precarious. I don’t know any MRE households that survive on 500 € per month, there are much more frequent locals with this type of income," writes another. "To boost sales of 1, and 2 every MRE aspires to return one day to the country at least upon retirement. So I don’t understand some comments in fact..." indignantly a user of X.