‘Se Permuta’- Property available for exchange

‘Se Permuta’- Property available for exchange

‘Se Permuta’ signboards are very common in Cuba means that the property is available for exchange. Cuba is a socialist state and the free sale and purchase is restricted. According to the Cuban law of 2003, A Cuban can register property acquired by purchase, inheritance, gift and permutation. Here, I have made an attempt to explain with simple examples the whole process of the property market in Cuba.

Felipe ,a Cuban has a big piece of vacant land in Marianio area of Havana .But due to his financial condition he has never been able to construct anything .There is one Enrique who has better resources than Felipe due to many reasons. We will not go into these reasons. Enrique has a big family and a small house with RCC(reinforced cement concrete) structure containing 2 bedrooms in Marionao. Enrique and Felipe know each other and they exchange their properties legally. According to Cuban law this is called as ‘permutacion’. In this deal there was not exchange of money.

That was a very simple example where no money was exchanged. Now let’s move to more complex issues. Yanie has a house in the Playa area of Havana it has only one room and she wants one more room for her family. She meets Jose of Miramar area who has a two bedroom flat and wants to change the house for financial reasons.Both exchange the property and Yanie pays money to Jose for this exchange. The quantum of money will depend on many factors viz the location, the need, the financial capacity and bargaining power of both. . Now there is Yohanka, who is a Cuban and lives in Spain. She has a nice 3 bedroom house with a garage. A Cuban can buy it and the price for the same is 35000 Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC).

Requirement of such exchanges, purchases and sales are announced on radio. There is special place in the Prado area of Havana where all the prospective property buyers, sellers and exchangers meet. There are also catalysts in the form agents who help to exchange contacts for a fee. For example, an agent may show as many houses as he can and expects a fee of 100 CUC if the deal is struck.

The infusion of foreign money from the Cuban Americans and the foreign boyfriends of the Cuban girls mainly from countries like Canada and Italy, has generated considerable momentum in the market.

NB-All names are fictitious and bear no resemblance to the living or dead.