The reform to the Planning and Building Law has been stymied again. After Israel Beiteinu broke up the final discussions earlier today because the exhaustion of earning capacity criterion was excluding from eligibility for affordable housing, Minister of Interior Eli Yishai announced that, after hearing criticism from the public, city mayors, and experts, he wants three major changes made to the bill.
Yishai said, "Without a budget of NIS 1 billion, there will be no reform." He said that the money was needed to train staff for local planning and building commissions, computer systems, the employment of skilled manpower, the writing of outline plans, and so forth.
The cabinet is due to approve the housing chapter of the Trajtenberg Report on Sunday, including the criteria for affordable housing and rent control, on the basis of understandings reached by Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Atias of Shas and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman, the chairman of Israel Beiteinu. However, the cabinet will not vote on the issue of 'price to the resident' tenders, which is the heart of the dispute between the two political parties, as it has already been approved by the Israel Land Authority Council. The criteria for these tenders do not include exhaustion of earning capacity, and Atias's aides have made it clear that the criteria will not be changed.
Israel Beiteinu is furious over the remarks, and is demanding to be a partner in setting the criteria for 'price to the resident' tenders, because the exhaustion of earning capacity criterion is central to them.
"Israel Beiteinu demands to be a partner in setting the criteria for housing eligibility," Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov told "Globes" today. "As the guardians of the middle class, the country's sane majority, which serves in the army and contributes to the economy, we insist that priority for housing eligibility go to these segments of the population. This is the principle in the spirit of our agreements with the prime minister and finance minister, and it represents the hundreds of thousands of people who came out on to the streets and squares last summer."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 14, 2012
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