The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality has launched a campaign against businesses that illegally operate out of apartments, in order to increase the city's housing supply. At the order of Mayor Ron Huldai, the municipality has begun preparing eviction orders against businesses operating in apartments without authorization.
At issue are apartments that are not used pursuant to the urban building plan, or for which there is no extraordinary use authorization. Businesses in such apartments pay arnona (local property tax) at the residential rate, which is much lower than the arnona rate for businesses.
According to Tel Aviv Municipality tax figures, there are 190,000 apartments in the city, several thousand of which are not used as residences, but for other uses. The municipality is initially targeting 1,150 apartments above the ground floor, which are not used as residences. The municipality says that 70% of these apartments are used for offices, and that the rest are used for clinics, public services, workshops, storage, and other purposes. 750 of these apartments are located in the city center. The municipality will examine the legality of the businesses in these apartments, and will issue eviction orders against unauthorized businesses.
The municipality says that because there is little residential demand for ground-floor and basement apartments located in mixed-use buildings, such as along Ibn Gvirol Street, it will initially focus on apartments on upper floors in buildings in clear residential areas, for which there is strong residential demand. Businesses operating in these apartments prevent them from being used for their legal purpose as residences, exacerbating the city's housing problem. The municipality said, however, that it will also seek to evict businesses from ground-floor apartment that operate without authorization.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 11, 2014
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