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2021-04-20T04:19:35.992Z


Is urban renewal stuck? Perhaps a new bill will save the day, by reducing the percentage of consent Real Estate Magazine


Is urban renewal stuck?

Perhaps a new bill will save the situation, by reducing the percentage of consent

  • Preserve the rights of tenants

    Photo: 

    Envato Elements

Produced by the Department of Special Supplements

A new bill from the Ministry of Justice makes it easier to demolish and rebuild residential homes.

It stipulates that apartment owners in a condominium will be allowed to submit a plan in the home with the consent of at least one-third of the apartment owner, when it comes to changes in apartment areas.

If it is a plan that includes the addition of an apartment, the demolition of an apartment or part of it, the consent of at least 60% of the apartment owners is required, even if it is an apartment that will be built on an area adjacent to the landlord initiating the plan.

60% consent is also required in plans whose initiators are interested in adding a designation or use of the common house.

Draft regulations simplify the process of submitting the plan, and for the first time even a single apartment owner will be able to submit it, backed up with the consent of other apartment owners.

Today all agreed homeowners must submit the plan.

Under the proposal, the other apartment owners will be required to sign consent documents.

The Minister of Justice has recently issued a memorandum of understanding for a bill on urban renewal.

The proposed legislative amendments are based on recommendations of inter-ministerial government staff work to examine barriers in the field of urban renewal led by the Ministry of Justice, the Government Authority for Urban Renewal, the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Director, over the past two years.

The team heard from various stakeholders, including tenants, developers, local authorities, municipal administrators, civil society organizations, appraisers and lawyers engaged in the field.

The conclusions report was published to the public about a year ago.

The bill is intended to regulate the relationship between the apartment owners in the building designated for the evacuation-construction project and the developers working in the field.

The bill seeks to reduce the necessary majority of apartment owners in order to file a lawsuit in court against a tenant whose refusal to deal is unreasonable.

A condition for filing such a claim will be the attachment of an opinion of an eviction-construction appraiser, who will determine that the transaction includes equal consideration principles.

The proposal includes a requirement to determine material details, without which the transaction would not be valid.

For example, the principles of consideration for tenants and security for the execution of the transaction.

The proposal seeks to extend the authority of the Commissioner for Tenant Inquiries in the Government Authority for Urban Renewal to provide that the transaction will be canceled in the event of an abusive underwriting while impersonating or exploiting a disability.

The purpose of these and other amendments is to ensure that the transaction is fair and that the tenants are not abused.

In addition, the bill seeks to set milestones for the implementation of the project, which, if not met, will allow most homeowners to decide not to proceed with the transaction.

new world

On the many benefits that urban renewal has to offer, both at the public level and at the private level, everyone agrees.

In a world of housing crisis and high natural proliferation, urban renewal can add a large amount of housing units even in the fabric built in city centers.

Given construction in a built structure only ("violated", in the language of environmentalists), the need for construction in open areas decreases.

In this sense, any project of urban renewal functions even as cool water buckets on the burning lava in the constant conflict between developing bodies and bodies that require environmental conservation.

Urban renewal is a rare opportunity for optimal and modern planning of a residential neighborhood, in the sense of a "new world of revenge."

In urban renewal, there is an opportunity to renew city centers, to infuse new and modern content into the concept of urbanity and to improve the quality of life of all community residents.

Urban renewal is an irreversible opportunity for an individual to greatly improve his quality of life, sometimes to the point that he can even redefine himself.

Under a small apartment in a neglected and dilapidated condominium, the apartment he will receive in the new project will be larger, more comfortable, more accessible, of higher value, in a modern building and in a welcoming environment, all without having to invest anything.

It would often be true to say that this may be the best economic deal ever offered to a tenant in a revitalized building.

With so many benefits, why isn't the whole country full of renewal?

In general, it should be borne in mind that a project of urban renewal is complicated and complex, and immediate results cannot be achieved.

The series of planning, economic, social and legal actions that must be taken in order to complete a project is large and depends on a number of factors with independent discretion.

An inter-ministerial committee set up by the Ministry of Justice last year dealt with all the barriers faced by tenants or developers seeking to promote urban renewal projects and mapped out a range of solutions, designed to facilitate the realization of projects.

Much of these solutions are included in the draft Arrangements Law for 2020, which is not known to have been implemented in the absence of a state budget.

Between property and refusing

The Ministry of Justice has now issued a memorandum aimed at promoting some of the recommendations through legislation.

The memorandum deals, among other things, with the right recognized by all those involved in the field - it is the right to property, which has a strong and entrenched status in Israeli law and reaches the constitutional top.

It is common to see the right of property of the occupants of the common house, especially with regard to their private apartments, as the right of the beneficiary to strong protection by the legislature.

In fact, from the point of view of property rights, if the tenants with the rights are not interested in renewal, but only "to become obsolete", what would the legislature force otherwise?

In fact, the legal perspective on property rights is more complex.

Already about two decades ago, the Supreme Court recognized the legal thesis that the right to property is also a value of social responsibility and not just values ​​of fulfillment and self-expression.

The court held that "an approach that gives weight to be an individual part of society and the public as a whole must be recognized. This approach provides support for the withdrawal of the proprietary right from the public interest in appropriate circumstances that justify it."

It seems that the many benefits of urban renewal are certainly circumstances that justify overcoming the apparent veto right of tenants refusing a successful project, and in such a case, given a significant majority wanting the project and provided the refusers are not disadvantaged, social responsibility should be allowed to prevail.

This point of view forms the basis for a significant part of the proposals that appear in the new memorandum, including the amendment that seeks to reduce the majority required for the implementation of projects from 80% of the building's occupants to 67%.

It is important to note that the reduction of the majority means the possibility of going to court earlier in the process, with the aim of convincing him that the tenants who refuse do so for an unjustified reason, while a significant proportion of tenants in the building really want to promote the deal.

According to the proposal, it is already possible at this stage, when two-thirds have agreed to the project, to apply to the court to decide the dispute.

The value of social responsibility due to the property will require in this case, carefully consider the cumulative benefits of the project including to all tenants, the opinion gives, that we carefully examined the aspects involved in the transaction and chose it, in the face of those who refuse, on the face of it, unreasonable.

To ensure that the transaction does benefit everyone, even those who did not choose it in the first place, the bill stipulates that an eviction-construction appraiser will check that the transaction was indeed conducted on an equal footing and that it is fair.

Further amendments to the proposal seek to balance tenants who are interested in the transaction with those who have already sued themselves and illegally expanded their apartment, and they are not interested in carrying out the transaction as a result.

It is not inconceivable that such a tenant will oppose the transaction, because in fact he has already earned his own, and he does not need the complex transaction to enjoy a spacious apartment.

Due to arguments based on receiving wealth out of court, the refuser drags his neighbors to an expected loss, as in the absence of his consent the deal is doomed to failure.

The proposal deals with this unfair state of affairs, and does not allow the same tenant who refuses the transaction to enjoy his refusal, by stating that his position is not counted in the count of votes when the decision is made.

Tenant protection

But it is not only in the aspects of refusal that the offer deals with transactions.

In the discussions of the inter-ministerial staff, the need arose to protect tenants against unfair actions by some of the developers.

The proposal includes amendments aimed at protecting tenants from so-called "offensive imprinting".

The meaning of this term is explained in the proposal, according to which in situations where a tenant has signed a transaction when he does not understand the language in which the agreement was made, or when he was unreasonably pressured to give his consent, or after being given false information, and in other cases, Inquiries from tenants in the Ministry of Housing to determine that the transaction is void.

It is further proposed to determine material details that any eviction-construction transaction will have to include, including details such as the principles for determining the consideration, an undertaking on behalf of the developer to provide guarantees and the maximum dates for delivery of the apartment at the end of the day.

Another revolutionary principle also concerns the possibility of tenants canceling a deal signed with an entrepreneur, when the project is not progressing and does not meet the milestones expected of him.

In this situation it is not proper to cause the tenants to remain bound to an old deal signed until all the officer could.

According to the proposal, when the project is stuck and the proposed periods in the memorandum have passed, the tenants will be able to cancel the old deal signed without it being considered a breach of contract, and embark on a new path that will complete the project, including through a new developer.

It is understood that in this case there is room to compensate the first developer for expenses he incurred, and regulations to be enacted will include reference to this matter.

We believe that the proposed new legislation will lead to the leverage of urban renewal and the implementation of projects on a larger scale, while at the same time with provisions aimed at helping enterprises reach implementation, other provisions ensure strict protection of tenants' rights and fairness towards them.

This winning combination is the only one that can ensure adequate urban renewal.

Produced by the Department of Special Supplements

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-04-20

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