Housing estates in Tel Aviv. Bibi's base? (Photo: National Photo Collection, Zoltan Kluger)
The storm raging across the country has been discussing, until now, the 'how' and not the 'what' - how to choose judges, how to cancel the disqualification of illegal laws by the Supreme?!
How to get gifts?!
Along with this lively discourse, the discussion about the "what" is forgotten, especially with regard to basic social laws: health, education, education, welfare, pensions, and if we are dealing with real estate - there is an almost complete disregard for the two centers of poverty in the State of Israel: the homeless and those with The minimum incomes, who have difficulty buying an apartment in Israel.
These are the families and residents of the neighborhoods whose property was raided, families whose petition "the neighborhood petition" was debated for a year in the High Court.
The Histadrut is their representative, because its fight to raise the minimum wage from NIS 5,300 a month by 17.5% will increase the wage to about NIS 6,000 a month, while solving the housing problem for the bottom 5 deciles will increase their free income for their entire lives by NIS 2,500 a month.
Maybe now is the time to do so?
What has changed this Passover from all the years?
Attorney Shraga Biran "I talk in many neighborhoods with tenants. The residents of the neighborhoods and the homeless are calling on Netanyahu: stand up and announce, like Begin did in his time, about the restoration of the neighborhoods: this is our heritage: we will not fail, we will do it here and now!"
The constitutional or legal crisis cannot be resolved without solving the housing problem.
A new study conducted by a team of researchers of the Academic Institute for Structural Reforms at Tel Aviv University, led by attorney Shraga Biran, on the subject of a national housing policy for the State of Israel, provides some light at the end of the tunnel
. And he is the one who initiated the legislation of the law for urban renewal - granting property rights to the residents of the neighborhoods and affordable housing for sale in 2008 and 2009, over ten years ago, and won the legislation in the hands of the current Prime Minister. The main problem that is being asked is, how to stimulate the government when it comes to housing
matters And how do you build for the young generation in the country, housing within reach with a strong hand and an inclined arm?
The research of the Academic Institute for Structural Reforms offers a simple combination deal, between entrepreneurs and land owners, that is: the residents of the crumbling housing estates.
It will work like this: each of the apartment owners of the renewed neighborhood will be entitled to receive their proportional share of the construction rights that will be created as a result of the demolition of the neighborhood and its renewal.
In this way, the incentive of apartment owners to agree to urban renewal projects will be significantly increased and the demand for them will increase significantly.
Such an initiative is quite compatible with the social reform that Netanyahu led in 2009 in the RMI, against all odds. This was the first stage of the "exit from slavery to freedom" - the dramatic transition from renting to selling, because then the residents of the neighborhoods and the housing estates became definitively and completely the owners of the apartments and the land on which they are are built
Netanyahu.
What about the housing law? (Photo: Walla! system, Niki Truk Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)
The State of Israel is a rich country.
According to a study by the Institute for Legal Reforms, the average intangible wealth per capita reaches 500 thousand dollars per family.
A large part is the "intangible wealth", not in land or natural resources, but first and foremost in human capital.
In addition, Israel is one of the richest countries and is among the top 20 countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita, which reaches 55,000 dollars per year on average. Against this background, it is difficult to explain how close to a third of the country's citizens, 730,000 households, are homeless. This This does not happen in Singapore, for example, where the land is also in the hands of the state and the planning is centralized.
It turns out that not everything boils down to financial wealth. In an article published in the prestigious medical journal LANCET, it was proven that there is an effect of housing on a person's life expectancy, and that poor and inadequate housing shortens life expectancy and causes people To die before their time, that is, every third person does not reach the expectations of life and dies before his time due to poverty and housing shortages.
In addition, a study by the Institute for Structural Reforms showed that poverty is one of the prominent causes of radicalization and fundamentalism.
When a person is in a daily struggle for survival and is deprived, then the chances increase that he will adopt extreme and dangerous views.
From there the road to violence and even terrorism is short.
It's not for nothing that the Enlightenment countries overseas provided an extensive response to housing needs, as a condition for social balance and strengthening.
Who counts the homeless?
Let's start from the beginning, who are those who own the homeless?
The homeless are more than 730,000 households, which are about 2.5 million citizens, of which about a million are children.
The homeless do not own an apartment, they do not have the equity to purchase an apartment, and they do not have access to a mortgage.
About 60% of the people who do not own an apartment, i.e. about 1.2 million people, belong to the bottom five deciles, who earn up to about NIS 7,000 per month.
Their spending on rent ranges from 30% to 40% of their total income.
Among them are young couples, elderly people, Holocaust survivors, social beneficiaries and slum dwellers in the city centers, who live in substandard housing and are considered "homeless" according to the criteria of the National Insurance.
The segmentation of the homeless can be done by several different parameters.
3 groups can be identified:
1. The first and significantly largest group is about 470,000 working households, of which about 50% are in the 4 lowest deciles of income.
These are people most of whom work and are considered "working poor" whose hand is unable to provide their family with a roof over their heads.
2. The second group is the senior citizens - about 100,000 households of retirees, headed by an individual aged 65 or older.
3. The third group is the allowance supporters.
This group has about 180,000 households.
Of the total homeless, about 340,000 are young couples aged 25-39, some of whom are working and others are included in the allowances.
In the State of Israel in 2023, there are hundreds of working households, making a living, but they are unable to raise their heads and beyond their daily existence, they cannot afford to purchase an apartment, the price of which is only an Amir every day.
"The situation is so serious, to the extent that even the state authorities do not count the homeless - in the simplest sense," explains Attorney Sharaga Biran, "According to the strategic plan for housing of the State of Israel, it is required to build another 1.5 million units by the year 2040 on average , which means, about 60 thousand units per year to meet the needs of the market.
This conclusion stems from the assumption that the past shortfalls in housing needs are only about 80,000 built housing units.
That is, the homeless in the current situation are not interesting, they are not counted.
This falsehood is perpetrated by stating that a household, which is the counted unit, is a group of people who manage a financial household in an apartment.
Meaning, those who do not own an apartment in one form or another are not counted."
So, how can the housing crisis be solved?
The Institute's research points out that the legislative system that allows for affordable housing in Israel already exists and allows us to implement and realize most of the tasks that lie before us in the field of housing, here and now, without any change in the legislation.
According to the approach of the proponents at the academic institute, in urban renewal projects it is necessary to recognize the property rights of the apartment owners, and these entitle the residents of the crumbling housing estates to be partners in a combination deal.
"No land? A big lie" (Photo: ShutterStock)
Whenever the question arises as to why housing in Israel is so expensive, we hear the well-worn answer: "What can we do, there is very little land left in the country for housing, there is nowhere to build."
For example, the strategic plan of the State of Israel for solving the housing problem for the next 20 years states that there is a "depletion of land", so that if the urban renewal is not successful, the country will fall into a catastrophe.
According to Shraga Biran: "The general public, including many journalists, believe that the country is indeed overcrowded and that in a little while the overcrowding will reach almost suffocation. It must be said clearly: This is an unprecedented lie. It is nonsense. There is land in the State of Israel!"
The most important consulting and research company in the world, McKinsey addressed this issue in one of the studies it conducted, in which it wrote that one of the biggest myths that sabotage affordable housing solutions is the myth that there is no land for such housing, which is repeated by all politicians and stakeholders who are not interested in affordable housing.
According to the economic accountant's annual report on state assets, 90% of state land is vacant.
A common claim in this issue is that a significant portion of the vacant land is occupied by the IDF's firing areas, so that according to the Israel Lands Authority, after reducing the occupied areas, the remaining area for state land planning is only 1.59 million dunams, which is about 7% of the country's area.
However, the State Comptroller refuted this claim as well and showed in the standards report from 20-21 that the fire areas are not 9.3 dunams as claimed, but only 7.6 million dunams. There will be those who say, God willing, because we gained 1.7 million dunams and thus doubled the area in Ram's possession From 1.59 to 3 million dunams.
Although, in practice, out of 7.6 million dunams, about 7 million dunams are in the Negev, which means that 92% of the fire areas are south of Beersheba, in areas where the demand is also low.
"All this story about the millions of dunams is in no way in relation to the real needs," continues Attorney Biran. "Note that millions of the country's residents live in the built-up areas that occupy a total of only one million dunams, out of a total urban area of about 3 million dunams, When the total area of the State of Israel is about 22 million dunams.
If we refer only to Be'er Sheva and the north, the built-up area constitutes only 10%.
Meaning - there is land, all that remains is to build - and in an efficient manner."
Byrne.
Where is Rami's loyalty? (Photo: Verdit Kahana)
"RAMI made the housing market speculative against the law, while ignoring the needs of the popular classes and fulfilling the needs of the upper deciles"
Let's go back in time: the Israel Land Authority (Israel Land Authority) is the successor of the "Israel Land Administration" established in 1960 to manage the state's lands. If we look at the provisions of the Israel Land Authority Law 1960, we find that the law determines its functions Rami's social policies, including: "allocation of land for residential purposes, affordable housing, public housing, employment, open spaces and other purposes, in places and to the extent required by the needs of the economy, society and the environment, including future needs." So,
how Has Rami turned from a social authority into a business corporation that cares only for profit?
Indeed, in today's Israeli reality, the marketing of real estate for housing by Rami is done speculatively, through auctions to the highest bidder. This method does indeed increase the state's revenues and enrich its coffers, but it seriously harms all Israeli citizens, especially the weaker sections and the homeless population, since , the high demand for land for construction, considering the limited supply of land that Rami puts on the market, causes a significant increase in the land component of the price of the entire apartment, and it makes up about 50% of the apartment's value.
The marketing of the land by the Israel Land Authority contributed to a significant income to the state coffers in the imaginary amount of NIS 202.742 billion, which was collected by Rami between the years 2003-2022. This is according to the CBS data.
According to the academic institute, with this management method, Rami has turned the housing market into a speculative one in violation of the law, while ignoring the needs of the popular classes, and fulfilling their needs only for the upper deciles. Even contrary to the position of the planning director, who requires marketing according to the segmentation of demands, referring to the national housing policy "In order to solve the housing crisis and improve the situation of the homeless population, the
concept
that sees Israel's land as a business asset, which must put in a maximum amount of housing within reach - must stop," claims Attorney Biran. "The trustee of the public", to internalize her duty of loyalty to the citizens of Israel and her responsibility for their well-being. The only solution: a national housing policy that will shape the housing policy of the State of Israel, the basic elements of which are the planning, land and financing policy, in a way that will solve the housing crisis."
"The price of land for the top decile is not the same as the price of an apartment for the homeless, just as the price of bread is not the same as the price of sourdough bread, challah, or light bread. Already today, the authorities have a segmentation of all the state's lands according to their purpose and geographic location, and a valuation has already been carried out According to an average price in similar transactions in the relevant geographic location. The worldview on which the bases for land valuations in Israel are based must change. Instead of the price of the apartment being derived from the price of the land - the price of the land will be calculated according to the identity of the consumers of the finished product. Thus, the state will bear the responsibility assigned to it and ensure a fair and distributed segmentation of the price The final product - apartments within reach for the homeless public, through moderately priced apartments for the middle class to luxury apartments for the upper deciles."
So far it sounds good and fair, but will the proposed method pass the legal test?
The significant obstacle is the law on the obligation of tenders, which states, among other things, that the state or any government corporation, including Rami, will not enter into a contract to carry out a transaction except according to a public tender that gives everyone an equal opportunity to participate. According to Attorney Biran, an
obligation The auctions have become a factor that paralyzes entrepreneurship in Israel's land, and therefore it is suggested to find a way that internalizes the urgent need for a quick release of Rami lands that legally meets the conditions of the Law on the Obligation of Auctions. "The key to paving this way is a regulation that allows a bypass to the slow and cumbersome public auction process that Faster and wider allocation of land.
Through this route, Rami will put land on the market in a number of cities throughout Israel. These lands will be marketed by way of initiation and lottery, with an exemption from tendering for the homeless and equity holders, according to an appraisal for affordable housing."
How will it do?
Attorney Biran proposes to make available for marketing 40,000 dunams of Israel's territories from north to south which will be designated for the homeless, approximately 20,000 dunams will be designated for construction and the remainder for public needs. ", which will make it possible to quickly pour affordable housing units into the market (for sale) and help drive the Israeli economy."
According to him, two birds with one stone - also help for the small contractor industry that has been pushed aside over the years by the large and public construction companies. Also, the aforementioned route will allow quick access to Small contractors and medium-sized construction companies for small vacant lots that are currently underutilized in the local authorities, while allocating them for dedicated and segmented construction for the homeless in ownership.
The marketing and financing of the purchase of the apartment by the eligible person will be done in accordance with the Housing Loans Law, 1992, which allows the financing of housing within reach through targeted mortgages and standing loans as a social mortgage for Israel. For illustrative purposes only, it will say: 70,000 units in apartments of about 100
m "r" can be built in 7,000 buildings scattered all over the country in about 300 local authorities. Each building is on average 12 stories, about one hundred housing units in a building, which can be built on about 3 dunams each.
Meaning, on 21 thousand dunams with an additional 20 thousand dunams for the needs of the public and to encourage the local authorities, local contractors and entrepreneurs, and this is how the housing problem in the State of Israel can be solved.
Real estate
residence
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reform
public housing
homeless