A proposal drawn up by Housing Minister Yoav Galant (Kulanu) to help alleviate the housing crisis facing the haredi religious community was completed this week, BeHadrei Haredim reported, and will be put up for consideration in the coming days.
While Israeli housing prices have experienced steep rises across the board over the past decade, the haredi community has been particularly hard-hit. With a burgeoning population and lower average incomes, Israel's haredi population has struggled with the surge in housing prices.
In many cases, the lack of sufficient housing in traditionally haredi towns and neighborhoods has forced residents to look elsewhere for apartments, moving into predominantly non-haredi areas.
In some instances, including the Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood in Jerusalem, the demographic change has caused tensions between the new arrivals and veteran residents, who fear the character of their neighborhoods will be fundamentally altered.
With a population growth rate far above the national average, the haredi population is expected to require at least 200,000 new housing units by the year 2035.
To remedy the housing crisis, the Housing Ministry's new proposal would set minimum levels of construction specifically for haredi cities and neighborhoods. An initial level of 5,000 new housing units per year would be introduced, followed by a requirement of 6,500 units per year.
Directing new construction to where it is needed most would not only help alleviate rising housing prices in haredi towns, say Housing Ministry officials, but it would, according to the proposal, prevent the exodus of families from haredi areas into mixed or secular neighborhoods, a trend which the ministry notes "cause conflicts and social tensions, which must be prevented."