Over 2 mln young people apply for housing project: Minister

ANKARA

Some 8 million people have applied for the newly launched social housing project, “My First Home, My First Workplace,” including more than 2 million young people, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum has said.

The deadline for applying for what authorities dub “the biggest housing project” in the history of the country, expired on Oct. 31.

“Young people’s interest [in the project] was strong. 8 million citizens have applied for the project within a space of one and a half months, with the number of eligible applications standing at 5.1 million. Most applications were filed in Istanbul,” Kurum said.

The draw to determine who will be entitled to buy a house from the project will be launched soon and the whole process will be finalized by March, The groundbreaking ceremony for the massive projects was held on Oct. 25 in the Sincan district of Ankara, attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Some 20 percent of the houses to be built under the project will be allocated to young people. The massive housing project includes the development of a total of 500,000 houses in all 81 provinces of the country and 50,000 workplaces.
Construction of 250,000 houses in the first phase will be completed in two years and by 2028 all 500,000 houses will be built, Erdoğan said.

Currently the development of some 6,000 houses in 17 provinces is underway, Kurum noted.

The investments in the housing project, which the government launched in a bid to arrest rocketing property prices and rents by increasing supply, will amount to 900 billion Turkish Liras ($48 billion).