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PM announces new housing plan
Omri Efraim
Published: 26.07.11, 12:36
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30 Talkbacks for this article
1. think about it
Michael ,   Haifa   (07.26.11)
Would you buy a car from a used car salesman ?
2. What an idiot
Abba ,   Rehovot, Israel   (07.26.11)
Hmmm what does that do to home owners with large mortgages.... Gee where have we seen this before, where housing or prop value went down.... oh ya the US where massive middle income people lost their homes ... who makes money, those with cash now have more disclosures to buy for cheap and rent out, to make more money.....duhhhh The right solution to stimulate the economy, raise substantially min wage, and give massive subsudies to small business.. cost the same, but promotes growth, as opposed to the opposite...
3. Think about it
Lioness ,   isrel   (07.26.11)
When President Shimon Peres who was at one time labor leader has just bought an apartment for 5,000,000 shekels and who almost for 30 years lived in a penthouse flat in Ramat Aviv makes you wonder what the Labor party has done for the people. Power is in a small elitist majority mostly from the Labor and Kadima party
4. This will not solve the problem in Gush Dan
Charles ,   Petach Tikva   (07.26.11)
And here prices will remain high .
5. No, no one would buy a car from a car salesman
Nachman ,   TA   (07.26.11)
They would just reach into their magic joe stalin cereal box and pull one out along with some stupid snide comments.
6. They say that Arabs only understand strength.
Philip ,   Afula,Israel   (07.26.11)
Well it looks to me that we are all the same in this respect. Its the proven pathway to getting what you want in Israel.
7. Yes, but what about the current extortionate amount of rent
israel   (07.26.11)
being asked for crappy apartments? This problem affects the entire country, not just students.
8. So this is the plan? How many committees will be formed?
David ,   Karmiel, Israel   (07.26.11)
Just some more Netanyahu bullshit! Sorry, there is no other way of describing it. This plan is going to take years to implement. You cannot pour the sand and cement out of a box, add water, and in two minutes you will have a new building! How is he going to handle the bureaucracy? He promised to reform or close the Israel Broadcasting Authority if they did not carry out reforms and bring in new technology. No change to-date and his announcement was a year ago! Netanyahu and his stooge Steinitz crow about solving the unemployment problem. The fact is that people are working to survive because their unemployment allowances came to an end after six month and they are being paid a pittance! The vast majority of the country is living on credit and overdrafts and one of these days that bubble will burst! There are apartments available in the periphery but people have to be able to get to work. The best solution is to expedite the building of the rail network so people can get from the periphery to the job centers quickly and reasonably cheaply. The train from Karmiel to Akko, 21 Km of double track, is going to take another five years to build! This is absurd. Mass public transport the only solution but our prime minster's plan is to pour money in the the territories to make his voter base of right wing extremists happy and the hell with the rest of the country! On this point one might ask how many in Judea and Samaria have a housing problem and how many are unemployed? I am sure the results would be very interesting!
9. Netanyahu is being dishonest
Dawn ,   Yokne'am, Israel   (07.26.11)
His proposals will actually only help the ultra rich who are playing real estate games. The "bureaucracy" that he is hoping to end is the process that land developers have to go through to make sure that their buildings are safe, environmentally sound and address the concerns of local citizens. It is a democratic process that is meant to make sure that development is done correctly, as flawed and sometimes corrupted that it may be in reality, that he is trying to end. Secondly, the barriers to sales that he is referring to is a sales tax that prevents people from playing with properties as if it is a game. Instead of removing the real estate tax, we should implement taxes that make it not in an owner's interest to own more than one home, even if their other home is abroad (solving the contribution of vacation homes to the housing crisis). Thirdly, he didn't address that the reality of our situation requires Israelis to review our perceptions of high rise apartment buildings, and building planning codes should enforce a minimum amount of green space between buildings, so that people who live in apartments have a beautiful view, and are surrounded by parks adn playgrounds, instead of looking into someone else's apartment and being surrounded only by streets.
10. The Munster University in Germany......
Nora Tel Aviv   (07.26.11)
....should give the exemple. A small university town...that`s all. Our big-town universities shouldn`t be expanded, being too expensive for students to live there. Instead, new campus should be considered in cheaper towns like Carmiel, Arad or Yavneh.
11. Build smaller apartments???
ARB ,   KS   (07.26.11)
How much smaller are they going to build apartments? The ones in new buildings are tiny. They might be "4" rooms, but the sq meterage is less than a 3 roomed apartment in old buildings. What about existing rent charges that are crazy? How is that going to be fixed? the only people who will benefit are the contractors who will now get the land for free. This is really a joke.
12. "Smaller" than what? Which "bureacracy"?
5th generation ,   Israel   (07.26.11)
The average apartment in a major city in Israel is 70-100, which is "small" enough for a family. The problem is not large size, it is the "luxury" concept that needs to be moved out to the periphery or scaled back. As for the bureaucracy, less safety and quality in building is not an option. If this plan means unsafe sardine cans, just move to Iran now. Don't throw rotten garbage at the masses and think we see fresh food.
13. wow..............
Amir ,   Yerushalayim   (07.26.11)
In less that 10 days the PM announces a new housing plan ?? is it that easy !! Then why wasn't it released years ago........ we have been suffering for the last FIVE years.
14. Only help students in TA??? And the rest of the country ?
JAyjay ,   Israel   (07.26.11)
WHat about the poor and middle class that earn a lousy 5000 a month? The high cost of living isnt only in Tel Aviv...its the whole country! All Bibi is doing is placating the students that are protesting.....what about the rest of the country? WHat about the basic wage that doesnt even cover rent and food?
15. Help me understand
Rachel ,   US   (07.26.11)
Why is construction so convoluted in Israel? In the US a developer buys a plot of land, builds about 200 homes (a development/neighborhood) then sells them. An apartment company has a complex of 400 -500 apts built, then rents them. Yes you have to get permits but a house can be built in the US in 3-4 mos, not years.
16. students will finish their studies before changes happen!
ashdod ,   israel   (07.26.11)
bibi is only good at making promises and talk and talk.... no real solution to real problems how can i buy an apartment in this country without becoming a slave to the bank ????? what about the gas prices ? maybe i should be like the bedoim and live in an illegal tent in the negev without paying arnona and taxes with their twenty wives and children !! why should i have an avrah and his family which keeps growing and growing on my back ?? why should my money pay for university studies for hamas terrorists in israeli prisons ?!? but really who cares about the small citizen ?? as long as the pigs in akirov towers are still eating their sushi and sheikh jarrah-hamas-jihad- solidarity is happy and disturbing soldiers at borders and trying to overthrow our government then every thing is okay, right ?
17. Amidar
Abraham Nachmias ,   Petach Tikva IL   (07.26.11)
Maybe I'm stupid, but.....the old formula of having a state owned company (like was Amidar) building cheap (not loosing money) why is that so crazy? Why should we help contractors earn more money and build what they want? We need social action, not market action!
18. Have you looked at the PRICES IN KARMIEL?
Levi ,   Karmiel   (07.26.11)
Where most people make minimum wage? OUT OF CONTROL. The rents in Karmiel have doubled in the last 4 years check it out. Average rent here is 2000 plus 550 for Arnona and then you add Vad biet of 60 or more a month This is one income gone on just rent. And if you have kids your really screwed. Who is he kidding? To little to late.
19. #2; Abba, YOUR PARTIALLY RIGHT
Mark from Georgia ,   USA   (07.26.11)
By eliminating one problem you just create another. Everybody who bought a house in the last 5 years, and for the next 3 years, will take a bath when property values drop. If housing prices drop 20%-50% what do you think happens to all the people who bought homes at the top of the bubble? Although I don't think raising the minimum wage is the answer? I not what sure the answer is, beyond building more homes to bring down prices. I would only rent and drive to work, opt for a long commute for less expensive rent. Then wait for prices to come down.
20. It is the French Jews who are driving up cost of housing.
naro ,   jerusalem   (07.26.11)
How many times will YNet delete my posting. This will not change the truth. foreign illicit money is buying up apartment to launder their money, and avoid taxation in their native countries. The main culprits are the French Jews.
21. Let us build in all of Israel Yehuda and Shomron
Yosi ,   Gilo, Jerusalem   (07.26.11)
then all this hypocracy will go away along with the high prices for housing.
22. Kadima doubletalk
mordechai taub ,   Jerusalem   (07.26.11)
Housing prices shot up and building slowed down when Livni/Bar On and their cohorts in Kadima were in power. The Kadima Party is in the back pocket of the large real estate interests. They are totally removed from what is happening in most of the country.
23. rent crisis - we need laws to protect the renters
keren ,   ramat gan, Israel   (07.26.11)
all is not good enough. bottom line is, there needs to be a law that protects the renters. Renters need to have rights/protection (RENT CONTROL) to rent apartments at reasonable rates and to move into the apartment under suitable conditions(not a dump) eg. paint, new bathtubs, toilets, sinks ect if need be (no rust, or mold), air conditioning/heating ect... Rent prices are ridicules, almost the price of my paycheck.....HOW DO YOU LIVE LIKE THIS...
24. Naro 20 . The French Jews ?
Charles ,   Petach Tikva   (07.26.11)
Can you give some numbers ? How many appartements did French Jews buy ? Did they buy cheap appartements , or more expensive ones ? I've read some time ago that French investors bought appartements in a new project , corner Rotschild blvd and Allenby street . Very expensive and do not influencing "normal" housing prices .
25. That is OUR way!
Alf Red ,   Londonistan   (07.26.11)
A peculiar Israeli way to fight bureaucracy - is to create new layers of bureaucracy so they will together fight themselves. Bravo, Bibi! And what about bureaucracy EVERYWHERE? Israeli bureaucracy is a HORROR STORY. I couldn't get a little parcel from London with medicines my little daughter was unable to stay alive without while we were in Israel and which it was not possible to get (the prices were atrocious! And in Britain she was getting them FREE) - I asked our farmacy in London to send this parcel and they obliged, quickly. Then I had for 2 weeks to run from one authority to another to get 20+ signatures and stamps to get this life-saving little parcel. When I arrived with my land-rover and a caravan - they sent me to Standards Institute to have my TOWING HOOK examined, checked, made drawings of, and elecrical scheme described and drawn. It is MADNESS!!!! And it is evrywhere - wecome to our National Home. Brukhim Ha-Baim!
26. #20; naro, EXPLAIN YOURSELF
Mark from Georgia ,   USA   (07.26.11)
Why would you call land investment in a foreign country "money laundering"?? I own property that I rent, whether I do it here in the USA, or overseas I've never considered it illegal or money laundering. It's no different than buying stocks, you put your money at risk and hope for a profit. First that the property value will increase, and secondly, that 20 years down the road the property is paid off. So you'll have an income producing property or you can cash out and invest in something else. Plus there are other things you can do that I won't go into here. So why the "French Jews are the main culprits" seems unfair and silly. Maybe your just jealous you didn't think of it first. Do you have some examples to justify your seemingly antisemitic remarks. How are these "culprits" responsible for high prices? Does just buying property as a second home, or as a renter property for tourists visiting, somehow illegal or immoral. People do that all the time with beachfront and mountain homes. I've rented beachfront condos and mountain cabins for vacations and weekend getaways. Again, I never thought of the people I rent from as immoral or as "culprits". Just smart business people. Somebody else pays off the property and you get a free place to stay a couple weeks out of the year. Twenty years later you can live there rent/mortgage free or sell off the properties and build a retirement home. What's wrong with that?
27. Just a place to lay my head
Martin ,   New Haven   (07.26.11)
Talk about the Elite and the rich, it never stops. Someone said "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than a rich man to heaven". The eye of the needle a passageway somewhere over there in the Jordan, anyway it must have provided a good laugh and taught a great lesson as to what greed is and how time consuming it could be, imagine merchants with their camels laden with goods having to take all this sh-t off their camels backs, just to go through this passage way the eye of the needle. Greed is just as deadly as terrorism. To live in Tel Aviv as a young male/female, then young family and be denied affordable housing and being accused corrupting the profit margin of the rich is sad and criminal "Thou shall not covet to much". there are people and groups of people that could never spend all the monies they have amassed in their lifetimes, many of these young Jews are children of some of these well off people so it appears there is a little psychosis in the economics of the State visa land and placing economically challenged adults around some greedy old farts that don't understand what a viable economy consist of and who it consist of young and old rich and poor. Just look at America this housing crisis is devastating us be we are learning fast with all the multitude of ethnics variables of immigrants that wont be denied every humans right,,,,, affordable housing.
28. Raise the salary and lower food prices and social livin
Noa ,   Haifa   (07.26.11)
Without rising drastically the wages, regulating the food prices and implementing social living and rent control laws, this plan is a total hollow shell. Apart from the fact that we only will see the results, if any, in a number of years..a change is needed now, for anyone who is not able to find affordable living and for all the families that are paying all their salaries to housing..
29. Mark , 26 , you did'nt understand
Charles ,   Petach Tikva   (07.26.11)
They USE their "black" earnings to buy appartements . Eranings they did'nt declare . That's what naro said
30. Alf Red
mba ,   Israel   (07.27.11)
What, you mean you don't have a cousin or friend who works in the Israeli Postal Service? If not, then you surely must know someone at customs or border crossings. This is the way things are done here, it's not what you know it's who you know. Seriously, I know it doesn't help, but I apologize for the 3rd world reception you had.
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