Social Housing Scheme Needs $105m in Subsidies

In order to implement the Social Housing Scheme to provide more than 100,000 residential units for low-income groups each year, 4.2 trillion rials ($105 million) in government subsidies are required annually, the deputy head of Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution announced.

“In addition to the government subsidy, about 24 trillion rials ($600 million) in bank loans and 17 billion rials ($430,000) worth of gratuitous financial assistance have been considered,” Javad Haqshenas was also quoted as saying by HIBNA, Bank Maskan’s news portal.

The Social Housing Scheme is a subcategory of the government’s Comprehensive Housing Plan that incorporates programs to provide low-income groups and those covered by state charities like the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee and State Welfare Organization of Iran with affordable housing.

Haqshenas noted that individuals who are eligible can receive bank loans worth 300 million rials ($7,500), 400 million rials ($10,124) and 500 million rials ($12,650) depending on the status of their city.

The official added that according to a Cabinet directive, if eligible individuals intend to buy a residential unit in the framework of the Mehr Housing Plan, they can benefit from 70 million rials ($1,780) of gratuitous financial assistance.

According to Haqshenas, Imam Khomeini Relief Committee and State Welfare Organization of Iran are responsible for introducing vulnerable and low-income applicants and those who are not covered by these two organizations will be identified by the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare.

“This is while no resources have been determined for the Social Housing Scheme thus far. We have proposed a finance package for the project to the Central Bank of Iran but they have not responded yet,” he said.

“It looks like the central bank has obligated Bank Maskan, the agent bank of the housing sector, to determine where the required resources should be procured from.”