Türkiye launches nationwide low-cost housing campaign

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently announced a low-cost social housing initiative across the country, with Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum unveiling plans to mark the outset of the project by the end of this year.

A comprehensive planning process for the project has already begun, Kurum pointed out.

According to the minister, the campaign will particularly focus on the country’s earthquake-hit southern cities, highlighting their efforts to enhance the housing issue aroused after the devastating twin quakes on Feb. 6, 2023.

As one of the most catastrophic disasters in the nation’s history, the earthquakes claimed 53,725 lives and caused unparalleled devastation. Despite ongoing reconstruction efforts, a segment of the displaced population remains in temporary container settlements.

"The project covers the entire country; however, we will maintain the number [of houses] somewhat higher in the quake-hit zone,” Kurum explained.

In this regard, the ministry sent a notification to the governor's offices across the country's 81 provinces, requesting detailed information on the requirements and building sites of each city. They are also collaborating with the state mass housing agency, TOKİ, for this purpose, Kurum underlined.

The campaign aims to provide citizens with modest incomes with convenient payment terms.

“We have built 1.5 million houses. Thus, we will approach our new social housing project in the same way that we approached the construction of these dwellings,” he noted.

He stated that there are presently 303,000 social housing projects under progress, which were postponed slightly owing to the Feb. 6 earthquakes, but that they have expedited the works recently.

Kurum also underlined that 45 percent of the houses in the earthquake-hit region are completed at present, with 201,000 dwellings delivered to their owners.

The minister also reiterated the need to accelerate urban transformation efforts across the metropolis of Istanbul, once again highlighting the potential risk of a major earthquake in the Marmara region.