Minister of Finance and housing cabinet chairman Moshe Kahlon presented initial housing figures for 2015 today at the start of the housing cabinet meeting. According to the figures, the government met the marketing targets it set itself, but in fact some of the land tenders failed and the lots were not sold to developers.
Last year, the Israel Land Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction and Housing published tenders for land for 44,248 housing units, but the lands actually sold were designated for only 30,635 units, a quantity similar to the housing land sold in successful tenders in 2014.
The statement published by the Ministry of Finance says, "The number of deals actually closed in this year is no lower than the number in the previous year, and stands at 30,635 housing units. This is despite the political upheavals that the government underwent during this year."
As far as the buyer price track is concerned, Kahlon presented figures showing that the state published tenders for land designated for construction of 27,690 housing units in 2015, but omitted to mention that some of the tenders failed, among them the tenders in Harish and Arad. The lands actually sold are designated for constructing 5,000 units on the low-price track.
In order to meet the sales target, notices were published on the Israel Land Authority's website of tenders totaling about 13,000 housing units in the last two days of 2015, but no tender documents have yet been published for some of these tenders. The tenders in question, if they take place as planned and are not deferred, will be closed in the next few months.
Kahlon, together with Planning Commission head Binat Shwartz, also presented the plans that were approved for 2015. According to the figures, plans for 100,000 housing units were approved last year. This is a significant amount, especially in the light of the planning shortage in previous years, but it is important to note that these are plans that have received approval, and in some cases the construction date is still far off, while some still have to undergo the land marketing track.
The housing cabinet was also presented with a plan for signing further roof agreements with local authorities in 2016-2017. The original roof agreements set a target of 100,000 housing units. The housing cabinet decided today to add a further 75,000 units.
In recent years, roof agreements have been signed with Rosh Ha'ayin, Modi'in, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Bialik, Ramla, Rishon LeZion, Beersheva and Ashkelon. Under these agreements, the state finances infrastructure and commits to transferring appropriate finance for new neighborhoods in order to avoid a situation in which new neighborhoods are built before the infrastructure is ready or the construction of new neighborhoods is delayed because of delay in development work. For their part, the municipalities undertake to promote the plans and to grant building permits within three months.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 4, 2016
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