Minister of Housing Uri Ariel today again promised to work to lower apartment prices - and that he would succeed by marketing of tens of thousands of apartments in central Israel.
“When I've done great judge me at the end,” Ariel said at the "Globes" 2014 Real Estate Conference in Tel Aviv today. “We will be judged only by results, and the trust of the public, the banks, and the developers will be based only on results, and that is how it should be. Your right to housing is our duty. I have not and will not run away. It is true that we have not managed to catch up with the shortage of apartments that has been created in recent years, but we can definitely see improvements, by all criteria, and it is still not enough right now.”
Ariel said, “Cooperation between government ministries is increasing, there is less ego, and more work, and that is the key to moving matters forward. The housing product is the most complicated product, in terms of how many government offices affect it. We must have the cooperation of all the ministries, and we are working well.”
Ariel promised to market land for tens of thousands more apartments as part of the blanket agreements: “In terms of the blanket agreements, more and more municipalities are coming to us asking to be included and there will be more such agreements. There will be 100,000 more apartments as a result of these agreements. This is not something that can be taken for granted. We are making major progress with the blanket agreements and we will reach more than 100,000 housing units in the coming 3-4 years, and you will judge us based on the implementation of this. In 2014, we will market more land than in 2013 - mark my word. But the key is where we are marketing.
“We are moving closer and closer to the center - anything within 30 minutes of Tel Aviv. A young couple can live in Bat Yam, Holon, Ramla, Lod, and Netanya, in a 3-room (2-bedroom) apartment, even a second-hand one. But looking only at 4-room (3-bedroom) apartments in the heart of Tel Aviv is really not right to view things just from that perspective. It is more worthwhile to start with a more modest apartment, and later to improve housing conditions.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 12, 2014
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