The debate surrounding social housing resurfaced during the examination of the 2026 budget for the Ministry of Urban Planning, Local Authorities, and Regional Development. Against a backdrop of affordable housing shortages, speculation, and citizen frustration, one demand is being repeatedly voiced: greater transparency, greater fairness, and a finally credible allocation system. Members of Parliament acknowledged the efforts made by the government over the past several years to reduce the deficit, estimated at over 300,000 units. However, they emphasized that the lack of transparency in the allocation lists continues to undermine the system's credibility, at least according to the conclusions of the committee review. The plenary session is currently underway this Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

Indeed, according to parliamentarians, "citizens claim they never know how beneficiaries are selected, what criteria are actually applied, or why some applications 'move' faster than others." Consequently, several elected officials demanded "the systematic publication of lists and criteria, in order to dispel perceptions of favoritism or covert interference."

The preference given to private developers raises questions

The increasing involvement of property developers in the production of social housing, sometimes through public-private partnerships, is criticized for its impact on prices. Some members of parliament denounce a “disguised privatization” of social housing, to the detriment of low-income households who cannot afford either the required advance payment or the imposed monthly installments. They call for a clear distinction between social housing programs and so-called “economic” projects, which are often inaccessible to the target populations.

Territorial equity, the great forgotten element of social housing

The elected officials also pointed to a heavy concentration of programs in the Dakar region, to the detriment of inland cities. For them, territorial equity requires distributing projects according to actual needs, stabilizing young families in their regions, and permanently decongesting the capital. In response to the criticism, several parliamentarians proposed the creation of a single national database of applicants, interconnected with civil registry and tax records, and publicly accessible. "This tool, already tested in some African countries, would help combat duplicate applications, fraud, and political interference." They also recommended the complete digitization of applications, from submission to validation, to reduce manual handling.