TEHRAN- As announced by a provincial official, Ardebil province, in the northwest of Iran, is the top province in the country in terms of the implementation of National Housing Movement plan.

Mohammad Zare’ Hossein-Zadeh, the deputy head of the province’s Transport and Urban Development Department, said that the National Housing Movement projects are being implemented in an area of 766 hectares with 21 percent progress in the cities of Ardebil, Meshgin-Shahr, Khalkhal, Kosar and Namin.

The official further said that 118,000 people registered in the National Housing Movement plan of Ardebil Province, of which 55,000 people have been qualified, and 44,000 people have received final approval.

The National Housing Movement to construct four million housing units in four years is one of the major plans of the current government in the housing sector.

According to the plan, out of these four million residential units, 3.2 million units will be constructed in cities and 800,000 units in villages, some of these units are currently being constructed after providing lands and preparing the necessary conditions.

After the National Housing Action Plan (started in 2018), the National Housing Movement is the government’s second major program to provide affordable housing units for the low-income classes.

The operation for the construction of 209,212 residential units of the National Housing Movement began in February 2022.

The ceremony to begin the mentioned operation and also to launch some development projects in the housing sector was attended by former Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi.

Also, in July 2022, the minister inaugurated a project for the construction of the first group of affordable housing units for laborers under the framework of the National Housing Movement.

Last month, 1,278 units of the National Housing Movement were handed over to the applicants in a ceremony attended by Aref Norouzi, the acting director of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of Imam Khomeini.

The mentioned units were delivered to the applicants in five different provinces throughout the country, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The Headquarters for Executing the Order of Imam Khomeini has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development to construct 100,000 units under the framework of the National Housing Movement.

According to Norouzi, the headquarters also completed and handed over 2,000 such units back in April.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the official said construction of the National Housing Movement units is underway by the Headquarters for Executing the Order of Imam Khomeini in 27 provinces.

Putting the physical progress of the mentioned residential units at about 50 percent, Norouzi clarified that for the construction of the delivered 1,278 units, about 127.8 trillion rials (about $256.8 million) has been spent from various sources.

MA