Introduction to the Israel shelter sector : a desktop study

To deal with this flood of immigrants, the Government of Israel must promote the construction of at least 50,000-55,000 housing units annually during the next several years. This report emphasizes the main characteristics and constraints of the housing sector and the most recent actions undertaken by the Government of Israel in the housing sector. Major constraints to housing production are identified as the following: (1) extremely slow and tedious processes for obtaining government subsidies; (2) strong monopolies in the construction industry; (3) long construction periods; (4) limited land availability; (5) lack of an organized construction lending system; (6) resistance to the use of foreign developers or construction firms to reduce housing shortages; (7) almost total lack of prefabricated or modularized housing; and (8) severe construction labor shortages. Among the efforts the Government of Israel has made to alleviate these problems have been privatizing the housing construction industry and undertaking an industrialized construction program.