Thursday 3rd March 2016

Eduardo Campiglia and the challenge of expanding access to social housing

In 1979 Eduardo Campiglia receives the title of civil engineer at the University of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, beginning the construction company that bears his name: Campiglia Constructions.  

“Sacrifice and commitment”, these are values that he has been preaching for more than 35 years to position his company among the most important and recognized in the construction industry. Moreover, these values led him to become the Entrepreneur of the Year 2015, after a close vote from the readers of InfoNegocios. 

Currently, Campiglia Constructions has seven projects under construction on the benefits of law 18,795 which contains important exemptions, both for those who buy to live as those who buy for investment.
 
In that sense, Campiglia refers to the impact of the law within his business plans. "Basically we have reached many people, but rising rates secretes some interested parties," he said.
 
The engineer said that both banks and companies "are looking around" so that those sectors of society with not so high incomes can access these homes. "This is achieved by generating good level products, but at a lower cost," he said.
 
The challenge of the entrepreneur is to reach lower costs for social housing. "We must find ways to mitigate the costs of rates, it is not a minor and easy issue to resolve, because if the person is less integrated to the project, then the fee will be very high and will not be able to access the share. Therefore, we could achieve greater integration, maybe with more time”, said the director of Campiglia Constructions.

Anyway, Campiglia said that the law met the objectives for which it was created. "It renewed the stock in areas where they were not built, and decompressing the construction in the coastal strip and generated investment through tax benefits that otherwise would not have occurred," he said. "We help the end consumer, generating employment, as the investors, which are satisfied because they have rented quickly with a commensurate income", he added.

The current situation of the construction industry:

The construction industry in 2015 completed its second year in fall (6.7%) from a year earlier, to which is added a not very auspicious forecast for this year, according to the report by the Center for Economic Studies (CINVE).

In this situation, Campiglia understands that the "economy and construction have cycles," but acknowledged that "social housing has made this cycle not so marked."

"What is taking place here, is a first-rate lower turnover, but this does not mean a decline in the amount of products generated, but good level products with less value are made," he said.

Reaffirming that strategy, Campiglia said that currently has seven projects of social interest and one of the highest levels for this year. “We seek to adapt us to what the market allows us”, he added. 

Also, the director of the company is studying first level projects towards the future in order to add positive aspects to the market. "We are studying projects for logistics facilities in our city, and with a high level project at the World Trade Center area. We are analyzing both projects with great caution because they are very large investments", he said.
 
Watch the full interview on InfoCasasTV! 
Source: Infocasas

Source: Infocasas