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Government bill · 20th Knesset · published as law 6 April 2016

חוק לקידום הבנייה במתחמים מועדפים לדיור (הוראת שעה) (תיקון מס' 3), התשע"ו-2016Law for Promotion of Construction in Preferred Housing Complexes (temporary provision) (Amendment No. 3), 2016 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Status: התקבלה בקריאה שלישית

Topics: Housing, land and construction* · * from the Knesset's official law classification

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Law for the Promotion of Construction in Preferred Housing Zones (Temporary Provision) (Amendment No. 3), 2016, (hereinafter – the Law), was passed in second and third reading on 28 March 2016. The Law establishes special return arrangements regarding Israel Lands included in preferred housing plans and large-scale housing plans providing for the construction of at least 750 housing units or 200 housing units in a minority locality, and held by a person subject to a duty to return them to the State, as determined in an agreement between the Israel Land Authority and the person to whom the rights were allocated or in accordance with decisions of the Israel Land Council, with the aim of accelerating the implementation of these plans. The Law provides that if a preferred housing plan including land for return within its boundaries has been received by a competent planning institution, the commissioners shall offer the holder of rights in the land to enter into an agreement with the Israel Land Authority concerning the return of the rights to the landowner and the transfer of possession to the Israel Land Authority, which shall include provisions on matters such as the date of return of the rights and transfer of possession, incentives to be paid by the Authority to the rights holder, and more. In addition, the Law provides that if such a plan has entered into force, the commissioners, after finding that the land is land for return, may order by decree the transfer of the rights holder's rights to State ownership, and may also issue an eviction and vacation order for the land after reviewing a report from the supervisor, no later than 30 months from the date on which such a plan was approved or 30 months from the date the amendment came into effect, whichever is later. The Law also provides that a person who considers himself harmed by the issuance of an eviction and vacation order may apply to the Magistrates' Court to prove his right to hold the land designated for return.

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Hebrew original

חוק לקידום הבנייה במתחמים מועדפים לדיור (הוראת שעה) (תיקון מס' 3), התשע"ו–2016, (להלן – החוק), התקבל בקריאה שניה ושלישית ביום יח' באדר ב התשע"ו (28 במרס 2016). החוק קובע הסדרי השבה מיוחדים לעניין מקרקעי ישראל הנכללים בתכניות מועדפות לדיור ובתכניות רחבות היקף לדיור הכוללות הוראות להקמת 750 יחידות דיור לפחות או 200 יחידות דיור ביישוב מיעוטים, ומוחזקים בידי מי שחלה עליו חובת השבה למדינה, כפי שנקבע בהסכם בין רשות מקרקעי ישראל ובין מי שהוקצו לו הזכויות או בהתאם להחלטות מועצת מקרקעי ישראל, במטרה להאיץ את ביצוען של תכניות אלה. החוק קובע כי אם נקלטה תכנית מועדפת לדיור במוסד תכנון מוסמך הכוללת בתחומה קרקע להשבה, יציעו הממונים לבעל הזכויות בקרקע להתקשר עם רשות מקרקעי ישראל בהסכם שעניינו השבת הזכויות לבעל הקרקע ומסירת החזקה לידי רשות מקרקעי ישראל ושיכלול הוראות בעניינים כגון מועד השבת הזכויות ומסירת החזקה, תמריצים שתשלם הרשות לבעל הזכויות ועוד. בנוסף קובע החוק כי אם נכנסה לתוקף תכנית כאמור, רשאים הממונים לאחר שמצאו כי קרקע היא קרקע להשבה, להורות בצו על העברת זכויות של בעל הזכויות לקניין המדינה וכן, לתת צו לסילוק יד ולפינוי הקרקע לאחר שעיינו בדין וחשבון מאת המפקח, לא ייאוחר מ-30 חודשים מהיום בו אושרה תוכנית כאמור או 30 חודשים מיום תחילת התיקון, לפי המאוחר. כמו כן, נקבע בחוק כי הרואה את עצמו נפגע ממתן צו לסילוק יד ולפינוי קרקע, רשאי לפנות לבית משפט השלום כדי להוכיח את זכותו להחזיק בקרקע להשבה.

Readings

What was said in the plenum

The bill establishes an expedited administrative procedure for the return of state lands held by leaseholders or other rights holders, in order to implement residential construction plans in preferred housing zones and large-scale plans, instead of a lengthy legal eviction process. The discussion focused on the balance between the need to accelerate the housing supply and the harm to the property rights of the land holders, and on the question of whether the law is indeed necessary and effective in achieving its purpose.

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Hebrew original

הצעת החוק מקימה הליך מינהלי מזורז להשבת קרקעות מדינה המוחזקות בידי חוכרים או בעלי זכויות אחרים, לטובת מימוש תוכניות בנייה למגורים במתחמים מועדפים לדיור ותוכניות רחבות היקף, חלף הליך משפטי ארוך של פינוי. הדיון התמקד באיזון בין הצורך להאיץ את היצע הדירות לבין הפגיעה בזכויות הקניין של מחזיקי הקרקע, ובשאלה אם החוק אכן נדרש ויעיל להשגת מטרתו.

Arguments for

  • The regular legal process for evicting land takes a long time and constitutes a significant obstacle to increasing housing supply and implementing construction plans, and therefore an expedited administrative redemption procedure is required.
    Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism)
  • The bill includes checks and balances, such as limiting its application to current plans only, the right to petition the court, providing financial incentives to landholders, and removing the penalty clause, so that the harm to property rights is proportionate and limited in time.
    Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism)
  • The law is needed to address the severe housing crisis and the rise in housing prices harming young couples and households, and therefore barriers preventing an increase in housing supply should be removed.
    Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism)
  • The arrangement formed in the committee also includes a mechanism requiring the prior sale of lands that have already been redeemed but not yet built upon, before redeeming additional lands, which reduces unnecessary harm to farmers and veteran landholders.
    Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid)

Arguments against

  • There is no real shortage of land for housing, whether in cities or villages, and therefore there is no justification for expropriating additional land beyond the existing reserves.
    Eytan Broshi (Zionist Union), Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid)
  • The law causes severe and disproportionate harm to leaseholders and farmers who have cultivated the land for many years and contributed to the development of the state, and may lead to the elimination of entire communities such as Kfar Bialik.
    Eytan Broshi (Zionist Union)
  • The law in practice serves to concentrate construction around the Gush Dan area and high-demand regions instead of promoting the national goals of population dispersal to the Negev and the Galilee, thereby constituting a failure of national policy rather than a true solution to the housing crisis.
    Eytan Broshi (Zionist Union)
  • There is no certainty that increasing the land supply through expropriation will actually lead to lower housing prices, since the state itself sets land prices.
    Eytan Broshi (Zionist Union)
  • Care should be taken to first make use of and plan lands that were already expropriated in the past and were not planned or built upon, before continuing to expropriate additional agricultural lands on a large scale.
    Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid)
Who spoke (3)
MemberFactionReadingsSpeechesIn the final vote
Uri MaklevUnited Torah Judaism coalitionThird reading4for
Eytan BroshiZionist Union oppositionThird reading6against
Haim JelinYesh Atid oppositionThird reading2for

An automatic summary of the plenum transcripts: the debate on the bill at every reading it was voted on. Arguments are given as the speakers made them; this is not an assessment. The list of speakers comes from the transcript, without a model. Transcript of the sitting: 1 · write to the author

Reservations to the second reading

27 reservations were filed: proposed changes to the text the committee brought to the second and third reading.

The reservations are intended to tighten the conditions for defining land for restitution and to protect the rights of its occupants, to change the manner of notification and delivery to rights holders, to increase the special incentive given to them, to allow objection or appeal against decisions and orders, as well as to change dates and delete certain sections of the law.

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Hebrew original

ההסתייגויות נועדו להחמיר את תנאי הגדרת הקרקע להשבה ולהגן על זכויות המחזיקים בה, לשנות את אופן ההודעה והמסירה לבעלי הזכויות, להגדיל את התמריץ המיוחד הניתן להם, לאפשר השגה או ערר על החלטות וצווים, וכן לשנות מועדים ולמחוק סעיפים מסוימים בחוק.

By faction

A joint reservation counts for every faction whose members filed it.

Who proposed what

Asked to speak: Zehava Galon (Meretz), Ilan Gilon (Meretz), Esawi Frej (Meretz), Michal Rozin (Meretz), Tamar Zandberg (Meretz)

Proposers and reservation numbers are extracted automatically from the committee version, and the count is checked against the numbers printed in it. The descriptions are an automatic summary. Committee version for the second and third reading (PDF) · write to the author

Reservations, sections and other votes (9)

In order. Votes on reservations and individual sections are shown separately from the vote on the bill as a whole.

Source: bill page in the Knesset legislation database ↗

Law for Promotion of Construction in Preferred Housing Complexes (temporary provision) (Amendment No. 3), 2016 · How the Knesset Votes