“Do Cubans own their homes?”
Belief: Cubans don’t own their homes.
Fact or Myth: Myth, but…
The Cuban government confiscated the properties of those who fled the island after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959. The nicer, more spacious homes were mostly kept for diplomatic missions in Havana, and today they house ambassadors, consuls, and in some cases even government officials. The others, mainly those occupied by tenants, had their value amortized and were then sold to their occupants. As the demand for housing grew in the following decades, the government started considering several ways to increase supply. One of the most common practices was the creation of microbrigadas, which consisted in groups of people with relevant skills who undertook the construction of large communities and town centers. The distribution of the newly built properties was at first determined by “need” in terms of living conditions; then, by “merit” —which translates to whether the individual exhibited positive social values and an association to the Communist Party and/or other “revolutionary groups.” These homes were also paid to the government on a monthly basis, usually by automatically deducting 10% from the individual’s paycheck until ownership was granted.
But what happens now that you own a home?
In a nutshell, not a lot. Private transactions are prohibited, with the exception of property transfers to the owner’s immediate family. If you want to sell your home, you have to sell it to the government, who is responsible for setting the value of your property. Should you resort to the black market, your home may be sold to another individual for whichever price you decide; however, the new owner would be left without a title to his or her new home.
The most common type of transaction in the housing market is what Cubans call permuta, which is a legal, one-for-one exchange of properties. Permutas of one property of a higher value for two of lesser values are also quite common. And those in which one property of a higher value is swapped for one of a lesser value, plus a sum of money to make up for the difference, well, those are just strictly illegal.
Now you’re probably asking yourself: “Why not take the two properties, inhabit one, and rent the other one?” Even though that’d make perfect sense in this economy, getting a permit to rent your property in Cuba is a hassle. The process is almost constantly frozen and, should you be granted one, the taxes on the income generated from renting your property are too high to tolerate.
So, is it a fact or a myth that Cubans don’t own their homes? This is the question that brings us here, but because the concept of “ownership” becomes most vulnerable to criticism when one has (almost) no decision-making authority over the property owned, I’ll leave the rest to yourself. Like a very prominent Cuban television host used to say: “May you draw your own conclusion.”
