Breakthrough in the housing market: removing bureaucratic barriers and accelerating construction

The housing crisis in Israel is no longer just dry statistics, but a national and daily challenge that touches almost every home, every family, and every young person seeking to build their home here. For them, we have taken a dramatic and significant step in this important struggle, as the Knesset plenum recently approved in its second and third readings the bill expanding the powers of the Subcommittee for National Housing, pushing housing solutions in Israel forward.

As Chairman of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, and as someone who led and promoted this law, I have conducted a series of intensive, professional, and strenuous discussions over the past few months with all planning authorities and government ministries. The goal that stood before us throughout the entire process was clear: to provide a fast, effective, and targeted response to the housing crisis by removing heavy bureaucratic barriers that have delayed construction for many long years.

The new law brings about a real revolution in the industry and grants the Subcommittee for National Housing the authority required to approve changes in land designation from employment and commerce to residential and vice versa, according to the local need on the ground. The meaning: the ability to convert areas that are not utilized efficiently into new residential complexes in record time. Alongside this, we have extended the temporary order for three additional years until the end of 2029, a step intended to ensure a stable, continuous, and forward-planned housing market.

Beyond that, our main concern was to ensure that decisions on paper actually turn into cement and bricks for the citizens of Israel. Based on this understanding, we established in the law a strict annual reporting requirement: the Minister of Interior will be required to report to the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on the number of plans approved, the volume of housing units actually built, and the utilization of areas, in order to ensure full transparency before the public and prevent delays.

The hard work does not end with the approval of the law in the plenum; in fact, it is only beginning. As Chairman of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, I will ensure that the clauses of this law are fully implemented in practice. We will exercise close parliamentary oversight, monitor closely the progress rate of the construction of new housing units, and ensure that every plan approved is translated into real housing solutions that will ease the burden on the public. We will continue to work for the citizens of Israel, fight bureaucracy, and build the future of this land with a sense of mission and deep national responsibility — exactly as I have done since taking office last summer.

The author is a Member of the Knesset for Otzma Yehudit, Chairman of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee.