Free land… Al-Zaydi repeats an “eternal” promise that previous governments failed to fulfill
Free land… Al-Zaydi repeats an “eternal” promise that previous governments failed to fulfill
2026-06-07
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The announcement last week by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi that his government intends to provide every Iraqi family with a residential plot of land has revived the debate surrounding the housing crisis, as well as the seriousness and feasibility of this step, especially since most previous governments promised the same thing, and it remained “ink on paper,” according to the description of MPs.
During the cabinet meeting on June 2, Al-Zaydi said that his government “is working to ensure that every Iraqi family owns a residential plot of land according to different development models and in cooperation with the private sector,” stressing that the state is moving towards “providing free plots of land to all Iraqi families” while involving businessmen, oil companies and the Ministry of Electricity in providing the necessary infrastructure and services.
The spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Construction, Housing and Municipalities, Istabraq Sabah, says that the ministry has worked during the past years to implement an integrated package of programs aimed at developing the housing sector and reducing the housing gap in all governorates .
Sabah explained to Shafaq News Agency that these efforts included the establishment of residential complexes, granting housing loans, launching new city projects, allocating serviced residential lands, implementing basic infrastructure projects, as well as approving the designs of investment complexes .
He adds that Al-Zaidi’s recent announcement comes within “a comprehensive governmental vision aimed at enabling every Iraqi family to own a residential plot of land according to multiple development models and in partnership with the private sector, in a way that contributes to expanding the housing supply and providing sustainable solutions.”
A glimpse
From the first governments after 2003 until the end of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s term, the state adopted the traditional policy of distributing residential land plots to specific categories, including the families of martyrs, political prisoners, victims of terrorism, employees, university professors, journalists, and those covered by the social protection network.
In 2013 and 2014, the government at the time launched the “National Housing Initiative,” which included distributing plots of land and granting what was known as “25 bonds” to citizens through paper forms in the governorates. However, the thousands of plots that were distributed at that time were located in areas lacking road networks, water, electricity, and basic services, while the beneficiaries faced complex administrative procedures that prevented many of those lands from being converted into actual housing.
With the arrival of Haider al-Abadi’s government to power in 2014, the state moved towards encouraging vertical construction and investment residential complexes, especially in light of the financial crisis that accompanied the war against ISIS and the drop in oil prices.
Parliamentary position
Despite the welcome, MPs warned against repeating past promises, with MP Uday Al-Zamili telling Shafaq News Agency that the housing crisis affects all Iraqi governorates, and that Parliament supports any governmental effort to address it .
But he stressed that “solving the housing crisis is not achieved simply by granting a plot of land to the citizen,” emphasizing the need to provide basic services, infrastructure, and planning to accommodate schools and hospitals before distribution .
He adds that the House of Representatives will have “active follow-up on what is being accomplished on the ground”.
For his part, Mohammed Khalil, a member of the Parliamentary Services Committee, told Shafaq News Agency that “all the prime ministers who have come to power have announced projects to distribute residential land, but most of those promises have not been fulfilled.”
Khalil adds that Iraq needs about five million housing units to fill the current deficit, calling for the establishment of oversight and legal mechanisms to ensure the implementation of government promises and to hold negligent parties accountable .
It is noted that in 2019, amid popular protests, the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi launched Resolution (70), which pledged to distribute serviced plots of land ranging in size from 200 to 300 square meters to broad segments of citizens, while granting additional privileges to low-income groups.
However, the government’s resignation months after the initiative was launched led to the project practically coming to a halt before the infrastructure was completed or the land was finally handed over.
The government of Mustafa Al-Kadhimi came with a different approach represented by the launch of the “Dari” electronic platform in 2021, which was considered at the time to be the first large-scale digital project for the distribution of residential lands, and allocated about 500,000 plots of land, in addition to distributing about 186,000 initial deeds in Baghdad, Basra, Karbala, Anbar and other governorates.
However, the project was later widely criticized, after it became clear that many of the allocated lands were located outside the basic designs of the cities and in desert areas lacking water, electricity and roads.
Crisis of confidence
The challenge is not limited to financial or technical aspects, but extends to a growing crisis of confidence between the citizen and the state, according to politician and academic Adel Al-Ghurairi.
Al-Ghurairi told Shafaq News Agency that Iraqi citizens “have lost faith in the promises of successive governments over the past years, whether those related to housing, services, or job opportunities.”
He adds that any new announcement regarding land or housing will be received with caution unless it is accompanied by concrete actions on the ground.
He points out that real estate prices in Iraq have reached levels that exceed the ability of low-income earners and employees, and in some areas have even surpassed prices in neighboring countries, despite the privileges and facilities granted to investors.
He continues that restoring citizens’ trust will not be achieved through statements, but rather through the actual implementation of projects and showing tangible results that citizens can feel in their daily lives.
Official estimates indicate that Iraq still faces a large housing gap, estimated at between two and five million housing units, at a time when millions of citizens live in slums or inadequate housing.
shafaq.com
