Today Minister Gideon Sa'ar signed a regulation allowing the doubling of the property tax on ghost apartments that are not occupied. The installation will be submitted for government approval soon.
The meaning for the lower city in Haifa:
As you know, there is a ghost town in Haifa - the underground city.
This ghost town contains a huge amount of unoccupied apartment buildings.
The apartments are inhabited by pigeons.
A good reason for a ghost town - property tax relief:
This happens for the reason that a special regulation provides a significant reduction in property tax on an apartment that is not inhabited and thus the owners of the apartments prefer to leave them abandoned and sealed instead of occupying them for low rents.
An interesting twist in the plot - the property tax relief disappears
The new regulation, which was signed by Minister Sa'ar, is intended to prevent exactly this phenomenon of the abandoned apartments, to alleviate the housing crisis somewhat, as well as to lower the prices of the apartments.
Now, it will be interesting to know what will happen in the field once this installation is implemented.
It is intriguing to know how the municipality of Haifa will act, which, as we know, prefers to continue devouring green land reserves (Ramat Hanasi, Lincoln Slopes, the southern entrances, Givat Zemar), than to take advantage of existing ghost neighborhoods (Downtown, Wadi Salib).
Abandoned apartment in Haifa
