TEHRAN – Following the government’s public call for the registration of people needing affordable housing units under the framework of a new program called the National Housing Movement, so far 2.387 million people have registered in this program, IRNA reported.

As reported, the registration for the first phase of the program ends on Wednesday, January 5, and the final number of applicants is expected to exceed the above-mentioned figure.

According to the Transport and Urban Development Ministry, in the first phase, the registration system has been available for the residents of 726 cities across the country, and applicants in another 674 cities will also be provided with the opportunity in the near future.

After the National Housing Action Plan, the National Housing Movement is the government’s second major program for providing affordable housing units to low-income classes.

As reported, the construction of 750,000 such housing units is underway across the country under the framework of the National Housing Movement.

Since the beginning of the National Housing Action Plan in 2018 so far over 1,461,528 people have registered in the program and considering the applicants in the new program, a total of 3,812,655 people have registered in the government’s housing plans.

Back in November 2021, Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi had said the land for the construction of 2.4 million affordable housing units was prepared and allocated across the country.

The official noted that in the first phase of the new program, the construction of two million housing units has been put on the agenda and the share of each province has been determined.

"In today's meeting, which was attended by governors of different provinces in the form of video conferences, it was decided that the land allocations for the construction of four million housing units will be determined by the end of the current [Iranian calendar year] year (late March 2022)," the minister told the press on the sidelines of the second meeting of the government’s Supreme Housing Council on November 17.

He further mentioned a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with the Mostazafan Foundation, noting: “According to the signed memorandum, 900 hectares of the foundation's lands throughout the country will be handed over [to the Transport Ministry] free of charge to be allocated for the National Housing Movement.”

EF/MA