New housing project to help reduce rental prices: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The new housing project will boost the supply of residential units and help reduce home rental prices, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, describing it as the largest social housing project ever in the history of the Republic of Türkiye.

The homes to be developed within the scope of the project will be offered to first-time home buyers at favorable payment plans, the president said on Aug. 1, following a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

“Some of those houses will be allocated to pensioners, relatives of martyrs and veterans as well as newlywed couples,” Erdoğan announced.

The work on the project is about to be completed and details will be unveiled next month, he added.

Renewable energy systems will be used in all of those new social housing units, which will be built with zero-waste compatible, energy-saving and climate-friendly materials, Erdoğan said, stressing that this would be the largest social housing project initiative ever in the country.

“Our aim is both to give a boost to the construction sector and provide homes at affordable conditions to our citizens by increasing home supplies, which contracted during the pandemic. This project will also help reduce home rental prices which has been causing grievances lately,” the president stressed.

One of the biggest transformations in Türkiye over the past 20 years happened in the field of urban planning, Erdoğan said.

Thanks to the activities of the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ), some 1.12 million people now have their own homes, according to the president.

Speaking after the cabinet meeting, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said that the increase in property prices is “artificial” and that iron and cement costs are now on the decline.

“Both house prices and rents will decrease, and the projects to be implemented will also contribute to the decrease in prices,” he said.

‘Inflation will start to decline’

Additional measures have been taken to alleviate the burden on people stemming from inflation, Erdoğan also said.

He noted that global energy and food prices are showing signs of becoming stabilized gradually, which will mean improvement in the local inflation outlook.

“Hopefully, inflation will enter a downward trend in the first months of next year. We are working on new measures to be implemented in the period ahead, which take all possibilities into account and are designed to achieve price stability and ensure supply security at the same time,” Erdoğan said.

“We aim to support all segments of the society against global shocks and make sure that employment and production continue to increase uninterrupted.”

He also praised the budget performance despite the ongoing global challenges.

“The budget surplus, which amounted to 94 billion Turkish Liras in the first six months of the year, is the clear and concrete indication that we have not compromised on budget discipline,” Erdoğan said.

The president added that the budget produced a surplus in the first half despite the government increased financial support to public servants, pensioners and workers.