J'lem sets up team to plan cheap housing for students and young

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
After decades of continued Jewish emigration from Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Municipality announced Monday that it was establishing a team to plan cheap housing for students and young residents in the city. The team, which will be headed by Prof. Shlomo Hasson, will study various proposals for affordable housing for students and young couples in the city, including obligating building contractors to sell a percentage of their flats at reduced rates to students and young city residents, and offering students and young couples cheap city rentals. 300,000 Jewish residents have left the city over the past twenty years, primarily in search of affordable housing and job opportunities. Nearly half of those leaving the capital were young Israelis between the ages of 25 and 34. The long-awaited move, which was approved by Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, comes just three months before the city's mayoral elections.