This essay investigates the evolution of a progressive consensus that housing had become a citizenship right and a state responsibility in Cuba. This consensus was formalized in the Constitution of 1940, and framed policies of housing construction, slum clearance, and rent control under government administrations from 1940 to 1955. This essay argues that despite general agreement behind these measures in principle, political conflict ensued when they were put into practice, expanding the importance of the political system for stakeholders. Rent controls ensured the centrality of governmental regulation in bitter occupancy disputes, while promises for public housing intensified demands for effective central planning. At the same time, the organization of shantytown residents in defense of their homes meant that slum clearance initiatives provoked charges of governmental incapacity. In sum, housing conflicts reinforced the central role of the state in Cuban society, even as they contributed to mounting social and political instability.