Netanyahu and cabinet intervening to halt housing shortage
At the Globes Real Estate Conference last week, the major topic turned out to be the "housing shortage in Israel". Several speakers including Nissim Bublil, President of the Association of Contractors and Builders in Israel were all very outspoken about the need to increase the number of apartments on the market in Israel.
Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu told "Globes" that he would be introducing a plan that would include the construction of thousands of housing units over the next 18 months. Under Netanyahu's plan, national housing commissions will be established to bypass the bureaucracy of local and regional planning and building commissions and will concentrate all decisions as a one-stop shop. According to many, the housing shortage stands at about 100,000 units.
On Sunday, the Cabinet approved Netanyahu's emeregency plan and the Prime Minister stated that, until the legislation is approved by the Knesset, additional committees will be established alongside the existing district committees that will deal only with government plans.
The goal of both the Prime Minister and Housing Minister Ariel Atias with this plan as well as all of the other recent government attempts to influence the supply of apartments, has been to provide more "affordable housing" for young couples and immigrants who have been priced out of the real estate market in Israel by a combination of local and foreign investors.
Source: Globes online
March 14, 2011
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