Posted on 11/01/21
| News Source: Times of Israel
The government on Sunday announced its ambitious housing plan for 2022-2025, aimed at rapidly increasing the supply of apartments in the hopes of reducing prices and combating Israel’s spiraling housing crisis.
The plan — put together by the Finance Ministry, Housing and Construction Ministry, and Interior Ministry — consists of setting a number of planning and development goals for the government, based on funding included in the national budget set to be approved by a November 14 deadline.
A joint statement from the involved government ministries said the planned moves would shorten the bureaucratic process and overhaul Israel’s real estate landscape, “already lowering prices in the immediate time-frame.”
The plan set a target of starting construction of 280,000 homes over the next four years — significantly more than in recent years — advancing plans for 500,000 more housing units, publishing tenders for 300,000 homes on state-owned land, and having 180,000 successful such tenders.
Reforms to reach those goals include reducing bureaucracy in general, particularly for unique housing projects — such as ones that aim to demolish old buildings to rebuild new ones in their place — and projects that convert offices to residences.