Ministry of Housing: public housing beneficiaries who waive their eligibility will receive increased rent assistance

The Ministry of Housing announced this morning (Monday) that starting in early September, those entitled to public housing who are waiting for an apartment will be able to receive rent assistance, in exchange for agreeing to waive receiving a public apartment. The aid should allow them to rent an apartment privately in the rental market, anywhere in the country, for the entire period in which they will be recognized as eligible for public housing. The move comes against the background of the shortage of public housing apartments, and the long wait of those entitled to apartments.

The amount of aid will be determined according to the economic rating of the locality where eligibility was determined, and the unique characteristics of the aid applicant. An eligible person who gives up his place in line for an apartment may return to it at the end of the eligibility period, but his place in line will not be preserved, and he will be considered as having entered it for the first time.

According to Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, the amount of assistance will range from NIS 1,600 to NIS 4,000 per month. This is compared to only about 1,050 NIS per month, which those who are eligible currently receive during the waiting period, an amount that has not been updated for many years. According to a ‘Davar’ check based on the CBS data from last June, the amount currently offered to those waiting only covers about a quarter of the average rental price for an apartment 3 rooms, or a fifth of the average rental price for a 4-room apartment.

Goldknopf promotes the move against a background of significant distress in the stock of public housing apartments. The State Comptroller’s report found that at the end of 2022, more than 4,300 eligible people were waiting in line for a public housing apartment, and the average waiting time for an apartment was 35 months. In the last two years, the volume of purchases increased, and was about 1,000 apartments, compared to only 460 apartments between 2020 to 2022 – but this is not the scope that solves the shortage.

An increase in rent assistance can be a wink for many who have been waiting a long time for an apartment. However, even those who will receive increased assistance will be required to pay higher housing expenses, compared to the user fees paid to the state for the public housing apartment. On top of that, the prices of the public housing apartment are not determined in the market, and its possession is seen as a right and guaranteed by the state – which allows the beneficiaries to enjoy long-term security and stability.

Another problem is related to the very ability to rent an apartment. Those entitled to public housing, as a rule, face severe poverty, and many of them find it difficult to provide the necessary guarantees to rent an apartment in the private market. In such a case, monthly rent assistance cannot be a solution.