TEHRAN – Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation (IRHF) has constructed 167,700 affordable housing units under the framework of the National Housing Movement initiative across the country, an official with the foundation said.

According to Hamidreza Sohrabi, the foundation’s deputy head for urban housing affairs, in addition to the mentioned units, the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation is also constructing 16,500 units for low-income groups, IRNA reported.

The official noted that so far 9,000 units of the National Housing Movement have been handed over to the applicants and another 9,000 units are also planned to be handed over to owners by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (late March 2024).

Last month, Transport and Urbana Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash announced that 1.759 million units of the National Housing Movement plan are under construction across the country.

The minister also announced launching a program for allocating free land to young couples in order to help them build houses.

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.

EF/MA