Moroccan Expats Embrace New Housing Assistance Program, Minister Reports

23% of the applications submitted - or 3,823 - under the new housing assistance program were filed by Moroccans living abroad (MRE). This is what Fatima Zahra Mansouri revealed to Parliament. A percentage that shows, according to her, the interest of MRE in the program.

Launched by King Mohammed VI in October, the new housing assistance program aims to renew the approach to home ownership, by supplementing the purchasing power of households, through direct financial assistance to buyers. The amount of direct assistance to buyers is set at 100,000 dirhams for the acquisition of a home whose selling price is less than or equal to 300,000 dirhams including tax. The state will cover one third of the value of the property. For the acquisition of a home whose price is between 300,000 and 700,000 dirhams including tax, the proposed assistance will be 70,000 dirhams.

Only Moroccans residing in Morocco or abroad, who are not homeowners in Morocco and who have never benefited from housing assistance, will be the beneficiaries of the aid. According to the Ministry of Housing, once the owner, resident or not, the person concerned cannot rent out their property, nor use it for professional purposes. MRE 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 of the first degree.