It envisages the annual production of 190,000 housing solutions out of which 63 per cent correspond to new units and the rest to improvements.

The construction of new homes is unable to keep pace with the need for housing and there is a distinct lack of affordable housing.

As much as 25 per cent of the housing stock is in need of repair and in recent years total expenditure on renovation has exceeded investment in new construction.

Countries which have witnessed an end to civil strife are beginning to formulate their national shelter strategies to include the housing of returnees and refugees, rehabilitation of damaged housing stock and construction of new housing.

In addition, a programme of construction of new settlements and new houses is to be launched.

Some 85 of the houses in the center of the town have been reconstructed while a few have been newly built.

Distributed newly built State housing Distributed

Home ownership is supported by mortgage interest relief, cash grants to first time purchasers of newly built dwellings, the absence of a general property tax on dwellings, sale of public housing to tenants and the shared ownership system.

The privatization of the housing sector will allow the production of more than 2,000 housing units per year and initiate a new private housing market.

272. In the last five years subsidized housing has constituted approximately 60 per cent of all new housing built in Denmark.

The new Urban Housing Strategy of 1996 focuses on land, housing markets and financial strategies.

The Government of Dominica placed housing and education at the top of its agenda and provided low income persons with opportunities for purchasing or rehabilitating their homes.

The old housing loan system was abolished in 1989 and at the same time the housing bonds system was introduced.

242. The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) invited applications island wide for housing assistance in 1995 and 589,076 families have forwarded applications requesting financial assistance to construct new houses or upgrade existing ones.

(e) Housing and infrastructure improvement, to decrease the existing deficit by tapping new and non conventional financial resources for investment in the sector.

Nicaragua is committed to a housing programme for the period 1996 2000 aiming at the provision of 96,000 housing units through improvement of existing stock, new housing and the delivery of serviced lots.

The Government plans to provide 400,000 housing units in the period 1996 2000, out of which 250,000 will be new houses and the rest will be rehabilitated units.

Other returnees have managed to find accommodation with relatives, neighbours or friends, or to live in temporary shelters, until their houses are vacated or new housing can be constructed.

The National Housing Programme gives emphasis to strengthening housing sector institutions at the national, State and local levels improving the housing finance system to include the mobilization of domestic savings, strengthening the secondary mortgage market and the incorporation of new options for housing finance.

The country has achieved a considerable improvement in housing conditions both in terms of living space and standard of dwellings but is now placing a special emphasis on increasing the production of rental and cooperative housing, increased renovation of existing housing, developing the housing finance system and promoting the stability of the market for rental housing.

In the area of housing legislation, the Housing Transaction Act has been enacted to improve consumer protection rights of home buyers, and the new Tenancy Act which provides greater freedom to parties involved in rental housing.

It continued to implement several rehousing projects to afford the refugees new dwellings to enable them to live in dignity.

Public housing 18 per cent

Housing Unit apos s housing programme

428. As regards the housing situation of Maori, the Committee was informed that 49 per cent of Maori were accommodated in rental housing as compared with 24 per cent of the New Zealand population as a whole.

A new Ministry of Environment and Housing has been created, which brings together the portfolios of land, physical planning, shelter and environment in a coordinated relationship.

New policy initiatives introduced in 1996, include new State guarantees for housing loans for owner occupation, new interest subsidy for housing companies (condominiums) and a lower down payment in the home savings system for first time buyers.

The following table shows the number of new housing units built by the State

1.191 Appropriate shelter policies and a re housing strategy will have been developed articulating a comprehensive approach to camp development.

For most developing countries the main issue is that of building new housing in addition to improving existing settlements.

In the village of Papravend the FFM observed across both sides of the main road approximately 13 new or relatively new houses, some of which had been inhabited for one or two years while others were empty and waiting for inhabitants.

This sector now provides up to 25 per cent of new social rental housing.

222. Improved housing right to adequate housing.

Upon arrival, settlers are frequently directed to live temporarily in small apartments in 4 story houses pending their receipt of a reconstructed house.

According to 2000 figures, the housing deficit amounts to 4,000,291 requirements, including 1,811,000 new dwellings and 2,480,000 units that need to be rehabilitated, maintained or extended.

When the number of rooms in the new housing unit is bigger than the housing need of the Lessee as in article 5 of the Housing Rent Law, then it suffices only to provide a housing unit conforming to the norms. quot

The average size of dwellings completed in the past 40 years has fluctuated considerably, but in the past 20 years new dwellings have, on the average, been considerably larger than those registered for the housing stock as a whole.

Under CMHC's On Reserve Non Profit Rental Housing Program, which provides assistance in the form of subsidies for new rental housing, funding was committed for some 5,300 new units over the period 2000 to 2004.

New dwellings begun in settlements 4,500 5,000

These include the establishment of a quot housing desk quot in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, the formulation of new directions for the National Housing Authority and the decentralization of its operations, refocus of the activities of the National Housing and Savings Bank for the financing of shelter and infrastructure and the establishment of a home reconstruction loan scheme.

(a) The Housing Associations apos National Housing Fund.

The Rent Act, the Housing Regulation Act and the Housing Act could also be said to affect the realization of the right to housing.

This applies to rental housing, cooperative housing and single family houses.

The Maaleh Adumim settlement, which currently numbers some 20,000 people living in approximately 5,000 housing units, will double in size since Housing Ministry plans envisaged the construction of 4,050 new housing units, of which 428 have already been approved.

Housing conditions vary widely, but generally those that are occupied exhibit only partial repair to their central core and a new roof.