Fears grow for poor as housing plan faces cuts

Government cutbacks to Brazil's pioneering social housing program, which has provided homes for several million people, will undermine property rights and increase inequality in South America's largest economy, analysts warn.

Hailed by the United Nations as a "success" in reducing Brazil's housing shortage, the multibillion dollar "Minha Casa, Minha Vida" (My House, My Life) program has become a target for spending cuts as the country's interim government grapples with a budget deficit and recession.

More than 4.2 million new houses are under contract to be built as part of the program, according to government figures.