TEHRAN- 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.

On Sunday, Hadi Abbasi-Asl, the deputy minister of transport and urban development, announced that currently, at least one million units of the National Housing Movement are under construction with average progress of about 30 percent.

After National Housing Action Plan (started in 2018), 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 early February.

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

Also, in late July, 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.

And on Saturday, the deputy head of the Housing Foundation of Islamic Revolution announced that 195,000 units of the National Housing Movement are under construction in the rural areas, and stressed that the figure will reach 240,000 units by the eleventh Iranian calendar month Bahman (January 21, 2023).

Majid Joudi also announced that the rural housing loan which was one billion rials ($3,500) until last month has risen to two billion rials ($7,000).

Also on Sunday, Abbasi-Asl announced that the construction of 180,000 National Housing Movement units in the rural areas has reached progress of over 50 percent.

Implementation of the National Housing Movement plan in rural areas is considered an effective measure to prevent the migration of villagers to the cities.

Considering the policy of preventing migration from the villages to the outskirts of the cities, the implementation of the National Housing Movement plan in the villages, in addition to creating jobs, provides a housing basis for the villagers.

The development of the National Housing Movement in cities with a population of fewer than 25,000 people and villages is a need, and the implementation of the National Housing Movement plan has an effective role in reducing the population pressure on the big cities.

In this due, the share of villages in the National Housing Movement should be increased in order to promote the sustainability of staying in the villages.

It is also suggested that the lands be annexed to the villages or the barren lands that are no longer capable of agriculture be purchased from the villagers and changed their use to be transferred to residential.