TEHRAN – Mass construction companies of the private sector are going to sign deals with the government with the aim of building one million affordable houses within the framework of the National Housing Action Plan.

The companies will submit a proposed plan in this regard to Transport and Urban Development Ministry to be reviewed within a week, IRNA reported on Saturday.

Last week, Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi held a meeting with representatives of mass construction companies to discuss details of future cooperation. During the meeting, he announced the government’s support for the private sector investors who intend to enter the construction market.

Back in August, the deputy head of Mass Construction Association Iraj Rahbar said the country’s contractors are capable of constructing one million housing units a year if the necessary funding and land is provided.

Mentioning a plan for the construction of one million affordable housing units per year by the government, Rahbar said: “Allocating land and financing are two important factors for the successful implementation of any housing project, and if these two are provided, building one million housing units per year will be easily possible.”

Commenced in winter 2018, the National Housing Action Plan aims to construct 400,000 small and medium-size apartments (70-100 square meters in size) across the country and particularly in Tehran, where housing prices have risen most sharply.

Nearly half of the total number of the said houses will be constructed in Tehran’s suburban “new towns” such as Parand and Pardis, respectively located in the west and east of the city.

Back in March, former Transport Minister Mohammad Eslami had announced that 510,000 residential units will be provided for the applicants within the framework of the National Housing Action Plan during the current year.

In September 2019, the registration of the National Housing Action Plan was started from Kerman Province. The second round of registration began in ten other provinces in November that year.

Applicants in Sistan-Baluchestan, Qom, North Khorasan, and South Khorasan provinces registered first and those from Kordestan, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad, and Golestan came in the second stage, while from Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Hamedan, and Yazd provinces came in the third stage.

EF/MG