32% decrease in the number of housing units approved by the Planning Administration in 2020

There was a 32% decrease in the number of housing units approved by the Planning Administration in 2020 compared to 2019 - and less than 9,500 apartments from the government target. This is the impact of the corona year and the paralyzed government on the activities of the Planning Administration. If no government is formed and budgets are approved soon, the trend may continue into 2021, reducing the stock of apartments planned for the coming years and thus raising prices.
The data from the Planning Administration's activity report for 2020 show that the district committees for planning and construction and the WTMAL approved 95,399 housing units in 2020, of which about 23% in the Central District. The annual target is 105 thousand apartments. In 2019, 140,000 new apartments were approved, and in 2018, 151.6 thousand new housing units were approved.
These are plans that will be the housing stock for the coming years. The great achievement of the planning system in the past year is an emphasis on the housing crisis in the Arab public. Of the total housing units, about 36,000 housing units were approved in Arab, Druze and Circassian localities or in plans planned for these companies in mixed localities.
According to the administration, 72% of the plans submitted to the district committees were decided within the time limit specified in Amendment 101 to the Building Law, within 18 months, compared to 2019, when 78% managed to meet the specified schedule.
The average time to approve a plan in the district committee was about two years (24.3 months). "This duration reflects a consistent decrease in the average time to approve plans, compared to 2019, when the duration was 2.1 years, and 3.1 years in 2014," the report said. By adding manpower and streamlining the existing committees and systems.