Housing has been a persistent problem in Chile. Concertación governments have sought to address the housing problem through a continuation of the neoliberal policies established by the dictatorship under Pinochet, emphasizing housing as commodity rather than a right. A study of housing policies under the Concertación reveals improvements in the quantitative supply with increased spending. Yet these neoliberal housing programs stratify residents into categories of poverty in which the poorest residents compete against one another to access subsidies and find housing.

These programs prevent citizens from acting collectively to demand policy changes; instead housing is treated as a problem of poor families who must seek to resolve their situation on the individual level by enrolling in subsidy programs. As a result, the unequal distribution of housing in Chile continues, and the poor end up in low-quality housing in economically segregated neighborhoods far from jobs and services.