TEHRAN, Iran, July 7
Trend:
Iranian government can reduce housing prices by providing cheap lands to private sector constructors, member of parliament civil commission Mohammad Reza Rezaikouchi told Trend.
"The housing issue is not very complicated but official decision makers have made it a complex one. Considering the current conditions, it is predicted that the following situation would continue until the end of current Iranian year (started March 20,2020)," he said.
"Price of a product increases when supply and demand are not balanced. Iran annually needs around 900,000 housing units but only 300,000 units are being built. This has been consistent through the past nine years and a shortage of 4 million housing units has created a crisis," Rezaikouchi said.
"Although there are available empty luxury houses in the country, there aren't enough houses for low-income groups. The price of land is one of the causes that led to increase of housing prices. This should be under control, since 80 percent of the house price is based on the price of land," he said.
The MP went on to add that public organizations that own some of the lands, should cooperate with the private sector to build houses affordable to the low-income level of the population.
"The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance has recently offered lands owned by public organizations at the stock market, but there is potential for price bubble, so I disagree with this approach," he said.
"The government seeks to finance its needs and narrow the budget deficit by selling lands. This would lead to increase of prices. Instead of offering land by square meter at the stock exchange, the government can provide cheap lands to private sector to build affordable houses," he said.