Real estate in Israel (Flash 90 photo/ Yossi Aloni, pixabay)
In the panel “Change direction” on the concluding day of the annual conference of the Tel Aviv District and Central Contractors and Builders Association, a fruitful discussion took place between planners, local authorities and entrepreneurs. “We are not messing around,” noted architect Erez Ben Eliezer, planner of the Tel Aviv District Planning and Construction Committee when asked how it is possible that the multipliers are constantly falling and apartment prices will continue to rise because of this.
According to him: “Standard 21 is a control tool and not a planning tool. It should provide proof that there is economic feasibility. In the world of planning, with this concept, we need to talk about urban volume and what it looks like in the long term. Anyone who now receives letters of comments from me in preparation for approvals knows that I comment on Entrances and other things, but not about the number of housing units. The fact that the demand for the cities has increased makes me happy, that we are not expanding because then we won’t be able to provide good housing. The concentration in the heart of the metropolis should increase. The city needs the multipliers only in the final stage and for the improvement levy.”
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Amit Gottlieb, co-chairman of the Committee for Urban Renewal, the Association of Contractors and Builders of the Tel Aviv District and the Center, said that: “We see where today’s system has led us and I think it’s time to change direction.” Change the mechanism for calculating the improvement levy, and set a fixed amount per apartment.
According to Masilati, “the improvement levy today reflects better than any other tax the profit generated as a result of the improvement program.” Masilati referred to the statement of his predecessor in the position that he expects a drop in prices, “I strongly disagree with him. I think the main culprit is not the municipalities but RMI. The bad conduct of the administration and the search for the culprits is the main problem. The administration does not look inside the house, looking for patents. Conducted by a very problematic bidding system of the highest bidder, it has proven itself to be broken. The administration should work in the old method, shelve these tenders, make a fixed price, either the offer closest to the average will win, or the second highest will win, but not the highest bidder because as long as it is like this there is no way to lower prices and an overflow of supply is nice, but what has happened in recent years There was the fact that everyone was sitting on the throne and didn’t know if there would be another six months and everyone tried to offer a solution and after that moved aside.”
He also added: “I hope for governmental stability and a minister who will have 4.5 years of stability and know how to move those who have not proven themselves. People have been sitting in Rami for a long time saying we will come up with numbers for marketing 80 A units and I can’t understand how they market 80 A and in the same year the prices went up by 20% Someone is drunk, and it’s either someone who says he’s marketing 80 or the public. Let them stop with the sayings.”
Lowering prices and increasing supply is not necessarily a municipal goal, noted attorney Roi Barzilai, chairman of the local committee for planning and construction and deputy mayor of Ramat Gan. According to him, “If we need an increase of 1.5% per year, that’s what we’ll provide, and if less, that’s what we’ll provide. Even today, the municipality gives 2-3 times the natural increase. The extreme transition from a situation where Ramat Gan allowed construction on small plots of half a dunam to a situation where we ask contractors to bring Complexes, it’s a difficult transition. We see quite a few amazing results where contractors have joined together. This is how planning should look. Where there is no choice, we will approve TMA, but where possible we will demand complexes.”
Lowering taxes on first and second home buyers is the solution, Hani Horowitz, CEO and owner of the Horowitz Group noted, “We need to educate the market that young couples at the beginning of their journey will move into a 3-room apartment. And the state should lower the tax for those who buy one apartment and then a second, larger apartment. We need a budget that will allow the construction of at least 40% small apartments, then young couples will move into a smaller apartment and later move to a larger apartment. I see no reason for a young couple to start their life with such a large mortgage, a 75-meter apartment is enough.” She added that “there is no reason not to build modularly and for the construction to take a year and a half and not three years. Even the towers that get permission will take another five years to build them, so it won’t increase the supply now either.”
Ben Eliezer added that: “Tel Aviv district is essentially about urban renewal. Even after renewal plans are approved there is still time before they come to fruition, this whole graph is very different between a renewal plan and another plan. There is no need to fear that a program is being started and the next moment the neighborhoods are populated and it should already be Garden, it is possible to arrive with a reluctant tenant for a delay of years.”
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