The 1974 Evaluation of the Stagnation and Ethnicization of the “CS-Housing” Program

In May 1974, the MSZMP Agit-Prop Committee (APB) issued a position paper to evaluate the progress of the “CS-housing” program. The term “CS-housing” referred to “Reduced Social Standard Housing”, which consisted of simplified, low-cost homes often featuring only a single room and kitchen to replace segregated slums. The 1974 report found that although 14,000 families had been relocated since the program’s inception, progress was largely offset by the natural population growth of those remaining in the settlements. As non-Roma residents had mostly moved out of these areas by the mid-1970s, the initiative began to be referred to as the “C-housing” program('C' standing for 'Cigány', meaning 'Gypsy' in English) in official documents and public discourse, reinforcing ethnic stereotypes. Furthermore, because state loans did not keep pace with rising construction costs, many families were forced to build homes without proper utilities like water or sewage, resulting in the reproduction of slum-like conditions in officially modernized areas.