By John Lee.
Iraq reportedly aims to reduce its housing deficit by up to 50% by 2030 under a new national housing policy.
According to the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA), the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Municipalities announced the National Housing Policy (2025-2030) on Friday, describing it as a comprehensive roadmap developed in cooperation with international organisations. Ministry spokesman Nabil al-Saffar told INA that the policy rests on several pillars, including land management, financing and loan mechanisms, infrastructure, construction materials, and post-construction maintenance services.
[Editor's Note: The Government of Iraq originally launched the National Housing Policy (NHP) 2025-2030 in October 2025 -- you can download the policy in English and Arabic here.]
Al-Saffar said recent census results showed Iraq's housing deficit stands at between 2.3 million and 2.4 million residential units nationwide, adding that this shortfall could be reduced by up to 50% over the next five years if work continues on residential city projects and the real estate developer system.
He noted that the Prime Minister's vision of providing one million housing units is fully aligned with the national policy and the New Residential Cities Implementation Authority. The ministry has moved away from distributing unserviced land plots, a model it said had failed to deliver results and contributed to the spread of informal settlements. The current approach relies entirely on real estate developers to ensure basic services are delivered first.
Work is currently under way in five new cities to build residential units:
- Al-Jawahiri
- Ali Al-Wardi Residential City (City of Roses / Madinat al-Ward)
- Al-Ghazlani
- Diffaf [Difaf] Karbala
- Al-Janain
Al-Saffar said solutions would not be limited to Baghdad, which faces a land shortage due to overcrowding, but would extend to all governorates through expansion beyond city centres. On the Bismayah housing project, he said it had been successful but faced delays due to its reliance on government partnership and financing, whereas the ministry is now moving towards models that depend more heavily on self-financing investors.
(Source: Iraqi News Agency)
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