Obstacles blocking efforts to create affordable housing are frustrating, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai told "Globes". "When the public sees us, the mayors, as responsible for things for which we have no authority. My colleagues and I are at on the front lines against the public, which makes it even more frustrating that our efforts are blocked by the lack of legislation and stymied by bureaucrats."
Huldai adds that the Tel Aviv Regional Planning and Building Commission discussed his affordable housing plan six months ago. The Tel Aviv Municipality approved the eligibility criteria in May: Tel Aviv residents under the age of 45 who have resided in the city for at least five years, whose gross monthly household income was less than NIS 14,405, and one spouse had a full-time job.
Huldai said, "I set up the committee, create a plan, submit it, and then the plan meets reality and they come back and tell me, 'We won't do it.' I do the hard work, and the government tells me - forget it."
Huldai told "Globes", "The only way to break this cycle is to force policy-makers - the Israeli government and the interior minister to move forward on legislation for affordable housing for the middle class. Legislation is needed to allow mayors to promote affordable housing projects. The government should also release land and expedite public housing construction."
"Globes": How do you define "affordable housing"?
Huldai: "Affordable housing means a solution for the middle class: working people with salaries who still struggle to meet housing prices in the city center. We want to retain this population, which is the city's heartbeat. There's a lot of confusion about the term. Affordable housing isn't socialism; it's meant for the middle class."
Do you think that the tent protest will change things?
"In my opinion, the tent protest has already changed perceptions. MKs are participating in it and there is a realization that the government will fall if it doesn’t let the middle class live in Israel. Continued success depends on the organizers' ability to translate the protest to a practical political issue, i.e. to ensure that in the next Knesset elections will vote in people who will strengthen the middle class and create a more equitable and social-democratic society in Israel."
Yesterday, a group of squatters took over an abandoned building on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, near the site of the tent protect. The squatters say that they will take over more buildings in the city.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 21, 2011
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