TEHRAN – The second group of the national housing plan’s units as well as some of the units under the Mehr Housing initiative were handed over to the applicants in an online ceremony on Monday, IRNA reported.

In the mentioned ceremony which was attended by President Hassan Rouhani and the Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami, 51,230 units worth 220 trillion rials (about $5.2 billion) were handed over to the owners in 31 different provinces.

As reported, 28,518 of the mentioned units were the national housing plan’s units and the rest were Mehr Housing units.

According to Deputy Transport and Urban Development Minister Mahmoud Mahmoudzadeh, so far in the two stages of the national housing program hand overs, over 40,000 units have been handed over to the applicants around the country.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Eslami stated that in order to facilitate the access of the target community to affordable housing units, 55 percent of the price of the mentioned units will be lent to the applicants in the form of bank facilities, adding: “We have completed Mehr housing program and it will not be transferred to the next government.”

According to the minister, in the process of the registration for the National Housing Plan, over 2.5 million people applied, among which 530,000 were eligible to receive housing units, however, some did not complete the registration.

The National Housing Action Plan aims to construct 400,000 small and medium-size apartments (70-100 square meters in size) across the country and particularly in Tehran, where housing prices have risen most sharply.

Nearly half of the total number of the said houses will be constructed in Tehran’s suburban “new towns” such as Parand and Pardis, respectively located in the west and east of the city.

Back in March, Eslami had announced that 510,000 residential units will be provided for the applicants under the framework of the National Housing Action Plan during the coming months.

Earlier that month Mahmoudzadeh had said that the construction costs for the National Housing Action Plan are set based on the current year’s construction material price list and haven’t changed.

The official made the remarks in response to some rumors about the rise in the prices of such housing units as a result of the increase in construction costs.

EF/MA