BREAKING NEWS

Kahlon mandates 90-day limit on building permits

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon signed a new regulation Tuesday putting a 90-day cap on issuing building permits.
Kahlon hopes the regulation, to be implemented in stages over the next six months, will cut down waiting times for the licenses, a hurdle to completing residential buildings and lower the cost of housing.
“Bureaucracy is one of the main factors that ignited the housing crisis in Israel in recent years, and this reform deals directly with the root of the problem,” Kahlon said.
According to the Bank of Israel, the average pipeline for a building project is 13 years, only two of which are spend in actual construction. The licensing represents only one step in that lengthy process.
The regulation would require all local councils to provide full, detailed information on building planning, regional guidelines and restrictions to developers, and forbid the retroactive addition of additional requirements.