Housing Policy Suffers From Lack of Database 

Lack of a comprehensive database on the status of people’s residential ownership has deprived the government of the ability to streamline the housing sector, says economist Nasser Zakeri in a recent article for the Persian daily Shargh. A translation of the text follows: 
Today, housing is of vital importance in all societies; for many reasons, our country is badly affected by challenges regarding the housing economy. On the one hand, the Iranian Constitution, as a national covenant, has tasked the government with providing housing for all citizens. On the other hand, economic hardships of recent decades have turned real-estate into one of the few valuable items on the list of citizens’ assets. 
In addition, rent-seeking practices have deepened wealth inequality to an incredible level, such that the number of tenants is increasing rapidly, which has compelled the government to resort to the regulation of rental market in the past few years.