TEHRAN — 20,000 low-income families under the coverage of Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation nationwide received houses last year (March 2015-March 2016), said an official with the foundation.

Additionally, 30,000 houses are either being constructed or completed and are ready-to-move, Qader Samadi said, IRNA news agency reported.

A great deal of the houses will be completed by the next month of which 60 percent are being built in villages and the rest are in the cities, he added.

Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation will provide under privileged with 200 million rials (nearly $5,700) grant in the cities and 100 million rials (nearly $2,800) grant in the villages for building houses, Samadi explained.

Help seekers in more deprived provinces such as Ilam, Sistan-Baluchestan, Bushehr, and Hormozgan would receive larger grants, he pointed.

"We have thoroughly inquired into such families’ financial state and we have prioritized them based on the information we have acquired,” he said.

“All necessary measures to make the houses earthquake and flood resistant are taken,” he highlighted.

Samadi went on to say that last year Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation spent some 2,300 billion rials (nearly $66 million) on the housing scheme and it is predicted that this amount would increase by 15 to 20 percent for this year.

Moreover, he added, 900 billion rials (nearly $25 million) of the money given to the charities were paid out for the housing scheme. 

Currently there are 150,000 families who are being supported by the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation who don’t have any houses and the number will hopefully decrease to 90,000 this year, he said.

Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation was established in 1979 as a charity organization to provide support for underprivileged families. The aim is to help such families regain financial stability.

MQ/MG