Turkish ministry reports thousands of households in squalor

Turkey’s Family and Social Services Ministry stated that 14,480 households across the country were in “uninhabitable” condition as of August 2024 in its Housing Assistance report. The ministry allocates finances to these households for repair and maintenance.

Tuesday October 15 2024 02:23 pm

Duvar English

The Family and Social Services Ministry on Oct. 15 classified some 14,480 households across the country as “uninhabitable” in the first eight months of 2024 in its Housing Assistance report.

The housing crisis has deepened with the deteriorating condition of existing homes. The ministry’s housing assistance report have revealed the magnitude of the problem, according to reporting by the daily BirGün.

After field surveys, ministry teams identified thousands of homes that were so old and neglected they were deemed “uninhabitable.” These homes were included in the "Housing Assistance" program. The number of households receiving housing assistance jumped from 2,664 in January 2024 to 14,480 by the end of August. Inspections conducted from 2019 to 2024 marked more than 20,000 homes as "uninhabitable," the highest number reaching 30,363 in 2021.

Hundreds of millions of Turkish lira were allocated for these uninhabitable homes. According to the data, from January to August 2024, impoverished households received 192,225,738 lira (5.6 million dollars) to make their homes livable.

The hunger threshold surpassed the minimum wage by 2,269 liras in August, reaching 19,271 liras ($562), while the poverty threshold rose to 62,772 liras ($1,832).