Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq’s renewed promise to provideevery family with a residential plot has once again brought the country’schronic housing crisis into sharp focus, reopening questions over whetherlong-standing pledges can move beyond declarations and into actual delivery.
“We are working to provide everyIraqi family with a residential plot under various development models,” PrimeMinister Ali al-Zaidi stated during a cabinet session on June 2, adding thatthe state is moving toward offering free land nationwide in cooperation withthe private sector, oil companies, and the Electricity Ministry to supportinfrastructure.
The proposal comes as Iraq continuesto face a housing shortage estimated at between two million and five millionunits, with millions of people still living in informal settlements orinadequate housing.
Over recent years, the Ministry ofConstruction, Housing and Municipalities has rolled out a series of programs,including residential complexes, housing loans, new city projects, servicedland distribution, and approved investment housing schemes, as part of effortsto narrow the gap.
Speaking to Shafaq News, MinistrySpokesperson Istabraq Sabah described the latest initiative as part of abroader government effort to expand housing supply through private-sectorpartnerships and multiple development models aimed at increasing access toland.
Yet the idea of large-scale landdistribution is far from new in Iraq.
Déjà Vu Decrees
After 2003, successive governmentsrelied heavily on land allocation schemes, often directed toward families ofvictims, political prisoners, public-sector employees, academics, journalists,and welfare recipients.
By 2013–2014, the government hadlaunched the “National Housing Initiative,” distributing land and issuingso-called “25-deed” grants through paper-based applications across provinces. Many of those plots, however, lacked basic infrastructure —roads, water, andelectricity— while bureaucratic hurdles left large numbers undeveloped.
After 2014, the state shifted towardvertical housing and investment-led residential projects as Iraq entered aperiod of financial strain linked to the war against ISIS and falling oilrevenues.
: Dollar volatility and cash shortages freeze Iraq’s housing and car markets
Lawmakers Talk Back
“All successive governments haveannounced land distribution projects, but most of them were never implemented,”Mohammed Khalil, member of the parliamentary Services Committee told ShafaqNews, estimating Iraq needs around five million housing units to close thedeficit.
Lawmakers broadly support newhousing initiatives, but MP Uday al-Zamili from Wasit Al-Ajmal Alliance, arguedthat land alone cannot solve the crisis.
“The housing crisis cannot be solvedby granting land alone,” he noted, pointing to the need for full infrastructureplanning, including schools and hospitals, before any distribution takes place. Parliament, he added, will maintain oversight of implementation.
Drafts on Dirt
In 2019, amid the Tishreen (October)protests, the government led by Adel Abdul-Mahdi issued Decision 70, promisingserviced residential plots of 200–300 square meters, with additional supportfor low-income groups.
The project collapsed after thegovernment’s resignation months later, before infrastructure works or finalland transfers were completed.
A different approach followed in2021 under Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who launched the “Dari” platform—a digital system designed to distribute land at scale. It allocated around500,000 plots and issued about 186,000 preliminary deeds across Baghdad, Basra,Karbala, Al-Anbar, and other provinces.
The initiative later drew criticismafter many of the designated plots were found outside urban master plans orlocated in remote desert areas lacking water, electricity, and roads.
Beyond policy shifts and technicallimitations, analysts point to a growing credibility gap between citizens andthe state.
Political analyst Adel al-Ghaririobserved that public confidence in housing promises has steadily eroded afteryears of unfulfilled commitments across housing, services, and employmentsectors.
Any new announcement, he added, islikely to be met with caution unless backed by visible progress on the ground.
Meanwhile, property prices havesurged beyond the reach of many households, including low- and middle-incomefamilies, with some areas reaching levels comparable to or higher thanneighboring countries despite investment incentives.
For many Iraqis, the pattern is alltoo familiar: ambitious plans announced with great promise, only to facedelays, limited implementation, or fade before reaching the people they weremeant to serve. The gap between official pledges and everyday reality thereforeremains one of Iraq’s most enduring challenges.
: Crushed dreams, rising demand: Iraq’s deepening housing crisis