Housing the Cuban Way

Housing in Cuba is a great way to think about what is powerful about the revolution for Cubans, as well as what is challenging about the future of Cuba. What you have is what you get--and it is pretty hard to get more. One solution is pictured below--take the sweeping second story of a sugar baron's home, and divide it into two floors--instead of one 20' ceiling make two stories of 10' each. Voila! Add a new level, add a new family member. The entry way pictured on the right is yet another grand home that has been bisected for multiple family dwellings. Each meter represents a household--the safety codes are apparently non-existent, because a mess of wires protrudes from very house in old Havana--this is the rule, not the exception.

Since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution nationalized most Cuban property, what Cubans can do, even with the house they live in, is tightly controlled.
Regulations regarding the use of property is spelled out in Cuban Law 65. According to Havana-Guide.com, interpretation and application of the law rests on the whims of the Ministry of Housing team of inspectors. It doesn't matter what the homeowner reads into Cuban Law 65 but rather how the inspector reads it. Essentially, Cubans aren't allowed to sell the homes they live in but can only trade with another citizen. This house "swap" is the only chance Cubans have to relocate. The bottom line is that no money can change hands during the process. As long as private property is owned or controlled by the government, the prospects of citizens or foreigners being allowed to own private property is fanciful.

The Ministry of Housing dictates that house trades must be of equal value, which means no trades of a mansion for a shack are permitted. The website Se Permuta says that trades such as two apartments for one house or vice versa are allowed. The inspector must be convinced that the properties are of equal value before the transaction will be approved.
All of this contrasts sharply with what we as tourists are exposed to--pictured here, the lobby of the Parque Central is the very essence of capitalist luxury (apart from the unbelievably tiny elevators that are too few to service a hotel this size). Housing is only one of the major challenges facing Cuba as they move forward as a nation entering the 21st century, after exiting the 20th century midway through.