The Cuban government has decided to extend the subsidies granted to citizens for home construction, official daily Granma said Monday.

According to the daily, the Council of Ministers, the National Housing Institute and the Ministry of Finance agree to promote an increase of up to 5,000 Cuban pesos (about $208) for materials transportation expenses.

Previously, a citizen could receive only up to 80,000 Cuban pesos (about $3,300) in subsidies for building a 25-square-meter house, and the money could only be used to pay construction materials and labor. With the current changes, the amount may reach up to 85,000 pesos ($3,540).

The Council of Ministers also decided to diversify the profile of benefited people and to expand the possibilities of payments with the given fund.

For people who build houses in seismically active areas, the amount of subsidies can now be increased to 90,000 pesos ($3,750) to support the acquisition of necessary materials for resistant structures, according to the new decision.

The government started to provide subsidies for housing construction and repair in January 2012 to aid families affected by catastrophes like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and fires, among other reasons.

So far, the government has granted over 566 million pesos ($23.6 million) for construction work carried out by personal initiative, Granma reported.

Cuba is in short of housing, with a current shortfall of 600,000 houses for its 11.2 million residents, partly due to the damages caused by three consecutive hurricanes in 2008.

As part of the upgrading economic reforms since 2008, Cuban leader Raul Castro approved the sale and purchase of houses, and allowed the free sale of construction materials.