Government to announce major public housing project

ISTANBUL

The government is preparing to announce a major project to help low-income groups buy a house amid rising prices in the property market.

“Those units to be built under a public housing scheme will be offered at prices affordable for families that earn minimum wage,” said Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, adding that public housing projects will be launched in the country’s 81 provinces.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will unveil the details of the project in mid-August, according to the minister.

“The state will provide necessary subsidies. With the approval of the president, some reductions will be made in the prices of construction and land plot costs. Those houses will be offered at favorable prices and payment instalments up to 20 years,” Kurum said.

People, who do not own a house and those who have certain income, will be eligible to apply to benefit from the new housing project, the minister added.

Houses in the project will also be allocated to pensioners, newlyweds, relatives of veterans and young people, Kurum furthered.

The projects undertaken by the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) will boost house supply and help house prices stabilize, the minister said.

Governors have been asked to provide information on how many public houses are needed in their provinces, depending on this information the number of homes to be built in each province will be decided, he explained.

Kurum acknowledged that there are problems finding land plots to build residential units in Istanbul, but the public housing project will also be developed in this city where demand is strong.

The Environment and Urbanization Ministry is also working on two other plans to address the housing problem. Public lands will be sold to people, and they can build their own houses on those land plots. “As is the case with the public housing projects, under this scheme only people who do not own a house will be eligible,” Kurum explained.

Another project involves building industrial facilities for small and medium-sized companies to boost production and employment, the minister said.

The residential property price index rose be 12.4 percent monthly in May, while the annual increase was 145.5 percent in nominal terms and 41.1 percent in real terms, a recent data by the Central Bank showed.

The property price index for new dwellings shot up by 151.4 percent year-on-year and the index for existing dwellings advanced 144.7 percent from a year ago in May.

More than 150,000 houses were sold in Türkiye in June, marking an 11.7 percent increase on an annual basis. From January to June, home sales were up by 31.4 percent to more than 726,000 units.