Housing in Mali

Common housing forms in Mali include a concession with several households, a simple detached house, a banco house, apartments and tents. A concession is a shared residential property containing several separate household spaces. ENSAN 2024 recorded concessions with several households as the most common form at 58.2%, followed by simple detached houses at 20.5%, banco houses at 8.2% and apartment buildings at 2.7%. Walls and fences were made mainly from banco, durable materials or semi-durable materials. Bamako had a much higher share of durable walls at 78.1%, while tents were especially common in Kidal and Ménaka. RGPH5 2022 recorded 2% of the population as nomadic and 3.3% of households as nomadic; a nomadic household has no fixed home and moves continuously. People obtain housing through private rental, family or community accommodation, gradual self-construction, customary acquisition, municipal or private subdivision, State or local-authority plots, ACI serviced land, OMH social housing, employer housing and bank-financed purchase or construction. Self-construction often develops room by room. Customary transfers and local sales can provide faster access, but an untitled plot may involve double sales, competing claims, competing documents, eviction or demolition and weak connections to roads, water, sanitation or electricity. A local promise or customary act is not the same as a land title. Formal land matters are handled through the ministry responsible for urban planning, housing and state property, the DNDC and its regional offices, communes, the SIF or GUF, licensed surveyors and, where needed, notaries. A formal request can require a stamped application, identity document, plan, preliminary project and two photographs. The SIF or GUF handles pathways such as title applications, transfers, registration, objections, mortgages, assignments and cadastral information. A buyer should have the plot and ownership history checked by the DNDC or the competent regional service before payment. A titre foncier is the registration of land in the land book. The documented procedure includes a 500 CFA franc stamp, public notice for 30 days and a boundary-survey notice at least 15 days before the operation. Objections require withdrawal, acceptance or resolution by a court. The administrative information states a maximum period of six months for the title procedure, while a separate ownership check is indicated at about 5,000 CFA francs and up to two days. Other costs depend on the act, plot, surveyor, publication and taxes. The research record also lists a 12,000 CFA franc amount for indicated stamps, registration at 15% and transfer at 0.9%; residential mutation rates under the cited housing law are 2% up to 8,000,000 CFA francs, 5% above 8,000,000 up to 15,000,000, 10% above 15,000,000 up to 30,000,000 and 15% above 30,000,000. The applicable regime should be confirmed with the DNDC and DGI for the specific act. State land can be provided through a bail emphytéotique or a bail avec promesse de vente. A bail emphytéotique creates a real right for 50 years, can be renewed once by express agreement, is entered in the land book, involves an annual fee and development obligations, and can be mortgaged. A bail avec promesse de vente lasts for a maximum of 10 years and cannot be renewed; the promised sale depends on development, and failure can lead to termination and repossession. Unless the applicable rules provide otherwise, improvements at the end of an emphyteutic lease return to the lessor without compensation. The 2020 land-tenure reform limits direct assignment to residential plots, generally restricts a person to one plot, with an exception for two adjoining plots in the same operation, and provides routes for certain possession or customary-right certificates to become titles. Residential rental agreements can be written or, where the applicable rule permits, oral. A written lease, rent receipts and a description of the property's condition provide stronger evidence. The landlord's duties include providing habitable premises, addressing hidden defects, protecting peaceful enjoyment and carrying out major repairs. The tenant pays rent at the agreed times, uses the premises as agreed and keeps proof of payment. Lease declarations record the type, duration, rent and contract, and the official portal indicates declaration within 30 calendar days after signature. A landlord cannot safely carry out a private eviction without the court and a huissier or formal service of process. Documented grounds can include expiry of a fixed-term lease, unpaid rent, personal or family recovery of the property or major works. For an indefinite lease, the stated landlord notice period is six months; when the landlord takes the property back for personal use, occupation within two days is indicated as relevant to possible damages. Civil-court filing is listed at 8,000 CFA francs, with an indicated period from the same day to one month before separate huissier and lawyer costs. OMH is a public institution involved in financing and delivering social-housing programmes, participating in allocation and transfers, collecting instalments and managing homes and sites. Eligibility, quotas, prices and application dates depend on the specific programme or call. Some programmes can use lease-to-purchase arrangements, monthly instalments or public subsidies, but the supply is insufficient for the total need. Mortgage access remains limited by irregular income, the shortage of titles and limited long-term finance. A BCS product is only an example: its cited conditions include a minimum salary of 300,000 CFA francs, age from 21 to 55, financing up to 50,000,000 CFA francs, a minimum rate of 8%, a first-rank mortgage over a title, insurance and staged construction payments of 30%, 30% and 40%. BDM products for Malians living abroad cover purchase, construction or improvements over three to fifteen years, subject to the bank and applicant profile. Basic services vary sharply. DHS 2018 recorded improved water access for 69% of the population, 95% in urban areas and 62% in rural areas; improved sanitation for 55%; and electricity access for 49%, with 85% in urban areas and 38% in rural areas. These figures are dated and should not be treated as current conditions for a particular property. In Bamako and peri-urban areas, title conflicts and pressure on land are especially significant. In northern and central areas, nomadic housing, insecurity and displacement can change the available options. IOM's 2025-2026 crisis response recorded 402,167 internally displaced people in December 2024. Housing responses can include host-family accommodation, displacement sites, rental or cash support, shelter kits, repairs, reconstruction and more durable climate-resilient shelter, depending on access and security.