Iraq to distribute 1m land plots to tackle housing shortage
- 3 million homes needed
- Citizens register from September
- Private developers fill funding gap
Iraq plans to distribute 1 million residential land plots to citizens from September as the government seeks to tackle a chronic housing shortage driven by rapid population growth and years of underinvestment.
Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi, who took office in May, said land distribution in the country’s 19 governorates, except the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north, would begin at the start of September and asked citizens to register on a portal created for the purpose, according to a statement by his office.
The planning ministry estimated in a recent report that Iraq needs up to 3 million houses to accommodate homeless and needy citizens, adding that at least 4 million people are living in informal settlements that lack basic services, according to the Shafaq news agency.
With an average annual population growth of more than 2.5 percent, Iraq requires at least 200,000 new residential units every year to keep pace with demand, the ministry said.
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In July 2025, Iraq unveiled a five-year plan to slash poverty rates by half, Alforat News reported. Baghdad claims it has managed to reduce poverty rates from 24 percent in 2022 to 17.5 percent in 2024.
Facing cash shortages, Iraq has resorted to the private sector to help tackle the housing crisis by awarding several large residential projects to foreign companies.
The latest project was awarded in June to Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa Group for the construction of a residential smart city near the capital Baghdad, with expected sales of more than $18 billion, according to TMG.