With thousands of people abandoning Jerusalem in recent years, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion have agreed on Tuesday on a plan to bring young couples back to the country's capital.
In the initial phase of the plan, some 700 of the 2,800 housing units to be approved for construction in Jerusalem's Arnona and Katamon neighborhoods will be reserved for young people from Jerusalem who meet the following criteria: They are married, have not owned an apartment for the past six years and have resided in the city for four out of the past 10 years.
The goal of the progam to make it possible for young people who have left Jerusalem due to the city's high housing costs to purchase an apartment in the city under the terms available to current residents.
In a meeting with housing experts on Tuesday, Kahlon and Lion agreed on two initial projects in the city that would lead to 2,800 new housing units. The two also agreed that in the future, at least 20% of new housing units in Jerusalem will be earmarked for young Jerusalemites who meet the aforementioned criteria.
Some 400 apartments in Arnona and some 100 apartments on land in the Israel Goldstein Youth Village in the Katamon neighborhood will be put up for sale as part of the government's "Move-in Price" (Mehir Lemishtaken) program, which offers subsidized discounts for first-time home buyers. The program will make another 200 apartments available for long-term lease.
The hope is that thousands of young people who have left the city, in particular its more secular neighborhoods, will return to Jerusalem.
Kahlon said that in a single year, the city was doubling the amount of construction in the past four years.
"In collaboration with Mayor Moshe Lion … we are embarking on a new path that will bring the young people of Jerusalem back to the city, and will preserve its Zionist and pluralistic character for everyone's benefit."
Lion said that "bringing the young people back to the city is my flagship program and I am convinced I will succeed in bringing the young people back to Jerusalem.
"I am confident Jerusalem's residents will soon see our hard work on the ground," the mayor said.
