| Tenure Distribution | Owner occupancy | Private rental | Social rental | |
| Chile | 57% | 26% | 0.1% | |
| Santiago | 53% | 33.8% | - | |
| Affordability | House price to income ratio | Household rent to income ratio | Social rent to private rent ratio | |
| Chile | 15.6 | 27% | 52% | |
| Santiago | 18.7 | 28% | - | |
| Housing Stock | Avg dwelling size | Avg household size | % of housing built before 1980 | |
| Chile | 66m² | 2.8 | 38% | |
| Santiago | - | 2.9 | 39% | |
| Housing Delivery | Target (2024) | Total supply (2022-23) | Affordable supply (2022-23) | |
| Chile | 65,000 | 36,000 | 16% |
Despite the government’s neoliberal housing policies, state interventions in the free-market housing sector is substantial, due to extensive failures of the market to provide affordable housing.
Since the early 1980s, housing subsidies have been the primary tool of intervention, initially only targeting the most vulnerable groups but more recently expanding to include middle-income families as housing affordability problems grow. Today, subsidies support approximately 50% of new housing construction annually.
Subsidies are traditionally only for homeownership, accounting for 95% of cases, as the government does not offer social housing. The rental subsidy through housing vouchers has only recently emerged and is seen as a temporary support for up to eight years with the goal of eventually transitioning families to homeownership through additional subsidies.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MINVU) administers various subsidy programs. Non-debt subsidies are targeted at vulnerable groups, while debt-based subsidies assist middle-income households. The DS49 programme, focused on low-income groups in urban areas, especially Santiago, represents around 20% of subsidies, while DS1, for middle-income families, accounts for 25%.
Established in 2017, the DS19 subsidy, providing 35% of all subsidies, is now the main tool for addressing the housing deficit. Part of the Social and Territorial Integration Program, it supports developers to build centrally located projects, with requirements that at least 20% of units serve vulnerable groups and 10% serve emerging middle-income households.
In Chile, 57% of households own their home and houses represent 80% of all housing. Due to the nature of subsidies, homeownership among low-income groups is high. About 38% of the housing stock has been built before 1991. However, in subsidised houses are designed for incremental extensions, which are largely self-built, housing quality and standards are overall low in the sector.
Each subsidy program has specific housing standards, including minimum size requirements and detailed regulatory frameworks. These standards are rooted in ergonomic principles and aim to maximize space usage, regardless of the housing type or target demographic. Similar to the first regulatory framework applied in Chile in 1982 through the 'Basic Housing Program,' these set minimum space and usage requirements for furniture, pushing the limits of ergonomics in housing design. For vulnerable groups, housing must include a three-bedroom layout with a minimum area of 55 m² for apartments, while for houses, the initial program typically includes two bedrooms in 42 m², with a third bedroom to be added in a future expansion that must be planned in the initial design. When vulnerable housing follows the Social Integration scheme, the program includes two bedrooms in a minimum area of 52 m². For middle-income groups, the minimum size is 37 m² for a one-bedroom apartment, and the typical maximum size for three bedrooms usually ranges between 56 and 58 m², although this larger size is determined by the efficient application of the regulatory framework rather than by the subsidy programme.
The functioning of the regulatory standards defines fixed configurations for different functions, regardless of the number of bedrooms or the total surface area of the housing. A clear example is the size of the kitchen-laundry area and the living-dining area, which remain unchanged regardless of the case. Another important aspect is how the housing program is distributed within the living space, as the regulatory framework imposes strict rules on the organization and relationships between different functions. This results in a strong homogenization of housing designs.
Regarding typical housing solutions, in DS49 housing, houses are increasingly scarce, with blocks of four to six floors without elevators becoming the norm. The predominant solutions for DS1 and DS19 housing are buildings or towers over five stories, usually equipped with elevators.