In Mexico City, access to decent housing has become an unattainable luxury for thousands. Between high prices, gentrification, and forced evictions, many families face precarious living conditions or are pushed to the outskirts.
In one of the largest and most populated cities in the world—where the hustle and bustle of the streets and the frantic pace of urban life contrast with the daily struggle of millions for a decent roof over their heads—access to housing has become a privilege reserved for the few. The Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, home to nearly 22 million people, is experiencing a housing crisis that has left thousands without a place of their own, forcing them into informality, precarious conditions, and, in many cases, marginalization.
The fight for decent housing in Mexico City
Nayeli Estrada, a single mother and president of the Xochiquetzal housing cooperative, knows this reality all too well. After losing her job during the pandemic and facing discrimination due to her sexual orientation, she and her five-year-old son live in a 16-square-meter room lent to her by her grandmother in Coacalco, State of Mexico. “It’s the only space I can use in the house,” she says. “Everything I need to do, I do in here, including raising my son. We can’t go out.”
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Nayeli is one of the 14 million families in Mexico who, according to the UN, cannot afford to buy a home due to low incomes. Living with fibromyalgia and raising a neurodivergent child, her job opportunities are limited. “If I’m living on 4,000 pesos a month, how could I afford a house? I don’t have enough time, money, or options,” she says with resignation.
An exclusive real estate market
In Mexico City, the average price of a 45-square-meter apartment is around 2.05 million pesos—an unattainable amount for most people. According to Federico Taboada, director of the Institute of Democratic and Prospective Planning, “A 2-million-peso mortgage requires monthly payments of 25,000 pesos, which means a household income of at least 75,000 pesos per month.” However, the average salary in the capital is just 6,900 pesos per month.
This gap has led 20% of the city’s residents to rent their homes, paying between 8,000 and 22,000 pesos per month. But even renting has become an ordeal. Israel Domínguez, a 34-year-old architect, has helped construct dozens of buildings but cannot access a mortgage due to job instability caused by outsourcing. “I don’t even meet the requirements to get a loan,” he admits.
Gentrification and forced evictions
Gentrification has worsened the problem. Neighborhoods like Juárez, Roma, and Condesa—once home to middle-class families—are now dominated by investors and foreigners buying properties to rent on platforms like Airbnb. According to data from the Institute of Democratic Planning, around 27,000 homes in Mexico City are used for this purpose, mainly in the boroughs of Cuauhtémoc and Benito Juárez.
Gilberto Belmont, a maintenance worker, was evicted along with 14 other families from a building in the Juárez neighborhood. “They showed up with government officials and police. They kicked us out without letting us take our belongings,” he recalls. Now, he lives in an improvised camp, facing harsh weather and a lack of basic services. “We can’t move because rents are too expensive,” he says.
Irregular settlements: the last resort
For those who cannot afford rent, irregular settlements have become the only alternative. In boroughs like Xochimilco, Milpa Alta, and Tlalpan, thousands of families live in areas without basic services like potable water and sewage systems. Javier García, a taco vendor and resident of one such settlement, has lived without water access for six years. “We’ve asked the government for help, but they keep denying us,” he says.
Don Miguel, a 50-year-old construction worker, managed to build his home on one of these plots after a lifetime of renting. “It’s beautiful to build something of your own, to your liking,” he says proudly. However, he acknowledges that the lack of official recognition leaves them abandoned. “They don’t recognize us—we just work and survive.”
A lost future for young people
For young people, the situation is even more discouraging. Óscar Jiménez, a 30-year-old musician, had to move back in with his parents after failing to afford rent for an apartment in Coyoacán. “Nowadays, young people don’t even have the right to aspire to homeownership,” he says. According to the OECD, 46% of young Mexicans still live with their parents due to the impossibility of accessing their own housing.
Despite government efforts to create social and affordable housing, the reality is that Mexico City expels 100,000 people per year due to high housing costs. Many end up in irregular settlements or peripheral areas where insecurity and lack of services are a daily struggle.
A fight that doesn’t stop
Meanwhile, people like Nayeli, Gilberto, and Óscar continue dreaming of a place to call their own. “We want to leave a legacy so our story doesn’t repeat itself,” says Nayeli, who is fighting to make the Xochiquetzal cooperative a reality—the first of its kind in Mexico. “It’s the only way my family and I can have a home.”
In a city where the right to decent housing seems more like an illusion than a reality, the fight of thousands like them serves as a reminder that, in Mexico City, housing remains a denied right for many.
Discover all these stories in the following report.
