The issue of the cost of living is the most burning issue among young people today.
Two days before the elections, the Meretz party reveals here for the first time its housing plan, which is mainly based on increasing the stock of public and affordable housing by increasing taxation on the upper island and raising corporate tax.
Meretz's concept is that every person has a basic right to housing, and therefore the state has the duty to guarantee all its residents a decent and affordable roof over their heads.
"In the last 30 years, short-term solutions were promoted that were mainly based on the economic interests of private stakeholders, failures that led to the increase in housing prices and the wide-scale crisis we are in today," the party says.
Zehava Galon at the "Israel Hayom" conference,
In Meretz, several solutions are offered, including first and foremost the promotion of public housing, by increasing the supply to about 15% of the total number of apartments on the market, about 450 thousand apartments, within a decade.
Meretz mentions that the minimum required is to increase the stock of public apartments by 60,000 in order to provide an answer to those eligible who are waiting today, and that the goals announced in 2018 have not been achieved.
It was also noted that the OECD average is 10-12%.
It should be noted that unlike other parties, Meretz is careful to indicate the sources of the budget for each and every section.
According to Meretz's proposal, 10% of Rami's revenues will be allocated to the construction of public housing.
It was also proposed to change the RMI tenders so that 25% of the apartments that are built on RMI lands will be built as public housing or as long-term rental housing.
In Meretz, they explain that today approximately NIS 384 million is invested annually in public housing, of which NIS 96 million is for the purchase of new apartments.
To increase to the target of 15%, an additional NIS 2.68 billion per year is required, which will be financed according to the proposal by increasing the corporate tax by 5%, adding an additional tax rate of 10% on the upper tax bracket and using the wealth fund (the state's revenues from natural gas).
In addition, Meretz proposes to determine an allocation of 7% of the apartments for long-term rent in each project built on RMI lands, and to determine eligibility conditions for affordable housing based on the structure of the household and its income.
It was also proposed that subsidized housing and long-term rental programs for target groups - young people, socially and geographically peripheral: the price of rent in affordable housing will be at most 25% of the income of households in deciles 3-7.
Regarding the rental market, the plan includes the promotion of a fair rental law, which includes establishing a mechanism for determining rent, defining maximum rents, the rental period and other conditions, limiting rent increases, and defining a "livable apartment".
Also on the subject of rent, the party proposes to enact a third or higher apartment tax law: so that the apartment owners who see the apartment as a business will pay tax accordingly in order to make it easier for the renters.
In addition, Meretz considers it appropriate to increase the stock of student dormitories by approximately 52,000 additional beds, with a subsidy of approximately NIS 1.9 billion.
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