Planning barriers are the main cause of rising housing prices.
Between 2007 and 2000, the index of owner-occupied dwellings decreased nominally by about 5.7%, while in the years 2021-2007 it increased by about 151%.
This is "in view of the increase in demand and barriers to implementation, especially in the district committees," reads a special document issued by Hotamal, the national committee for planning preferred complexes, ahead of a discussion to be held today in the Knesset's Interior and Environmental Protection Committee.
The document also shows that according to a study by the Bank of Israel from 2014, the time from the preparation of a plan for submission to the district committee until the completion of construction is 13 years, at least.
The main procrastination, as it appears from the document, occurs in the district committee, with the district committee approval stage being the longest and lasting five years.
Additional procrastination is done under the auspices of the local committees in issuing building permits, a procedure that takes three years.
"The barriers to a rapid increase in the supply of apartments, in the face of an increase in demand, have led, among other things, to a rapid increase in apartment prices," it was written.
Hotamal was established in 2014 as a temporary and multi-authority tool formulated by the government, with the aim of accelerating the planning of large residential plans. This is against the background of the government's perception to date The committee is to increase the planning inventory for housing, for which purpose the committee has been given accelerated planning procedures, extensive powers to change national and district outline plans, excessive independence for issuing building permits by virtue of approved plans, and the committee's decisions can not be appealed.
In August 2021, the committee's activity was extended for another four years, and powers were added to it to design public transportation-oriented complexes.
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