Jerusalem mayor pushes affordable housing project in Kiryat Yovel
Posted on 16. Apr, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff in Israel Real Estate
Young Couple in Jerusalem
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat this week called upon Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Atias to delay building tenders for luxury real estate in Jerusalem in favor of the city’s plans to use the land for building affordable housing for young people and young couples.
In the letter to the Housing and Construction Minister, Barkat is requesting the delay for building tenders on 53 luxury housing units in the Kiryat Yovel area of the capital. As an alternative plan, Barkat wishes to advance the construction of 300 units on the same land plot. The plan is in line with the mayor’s policy to give preference for the construction of affordable housing for the young over exclusive housing for the wealthy in Jerusalem. Barkat said that finding solutions to the problem of affordable housing in the capital has become a top priority in the city’s work. In recent months, a new committee consisting of city officials and the Jerusalem Development Authority was established which will advance plans for new affordable city housing for which a budget of NIS 1 million has been allocated.
The city of Jerusalem is interested in preserving the young character of the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood and to advance construction for young couples. Barkat said that the new plan is supported by community planning officials and was encouraged in full cooperation with residents of the neighborhood as a way to attract young population to the area by enabling them to buy apartments at affordable prices.
In the letter to Atias, explained that he wishes to maximize the plot of land to the maximum enabling the construction of 300 housing units, which will boost the number of apartments sixfold compared with the current plan for the plot in Kiryat Yovel. Furthermore the city of Jerusalem is requesting to advance a new plan in the area stretching over a space of 25 dunam for the construction of hundreds of additional affordable housing units to provide residents and young couples with the possibility of buying property in the neighborhood.
At the request of the community planning committee, the city of Jerusalem in recent months conducted a number of economic and planning tests regarding the current plan marketed by the Israel Land Administration (ILA) for the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood. The city claims that the tests show that the ILA plan does not maximize the available land to the maximum and therefore Barkat is calling upon Atias to rethink the plan and modify it in a way, which makes use of the land in a more efficient manner.
At the end of March Barkat said that construction in Jerusalem will continue. ”There is no freeze in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a developing city, it has needs and we will continue to build in its eastern and western sides, for all of its inhabitants, Jews and Arabs,” said Barkat.
Barkat’s efforts to bring forward plans for affordable housing for young couples, as apartment prices over the past year have been rising steadily rising by over 30 percent in high demand areas and large cities in the center of the country, follow the footsteps of similar plans for the city of Tel Aviv. Last month, Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv, announced plans to advance affordable housing projects in the city. The plan proposes 80-sq.m. apartments for eligible young couples with children, at a cost of up to NIS 420,000.
© Copyright 2010.
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