"900,000" empty houses in Iran belong to government agencies
The Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development says that of the 2.3 million empty residential units identified so far, 900,000 units belong to legal entities.
Mahmoud Mahmoudzadeh told ISNA on Thursday, December 8, that due to the different locations of the identified vacant units, it is currently not possible to estimate the overall amount of tax that should be collected.
The report goes on to say that legal entities refer to banks, government agencies, public organizations, and institutions that usually purchase or build residential and commercial properties to increase capital or protect it from inflation.
According to the report, vacant houses should have been subject to taxation, but this has been delayed for months due to the establishment of a liaison system between the Ministry of Roads and the Tax Affairs Organization, which should be established by the Ministry of Communications. However, according to the Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, this liaison has not yet been established.
The acquisition of 900,000 residential units by government agencies comes at a time when, according to official statistics from the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, about a third of Iranian households are renters and rental rates in the country have increased significantly.
On December 29, the Central Bank of Iran published a report announcing a 50 to 55 percent increase in rents in Tehran and its suburbs.
According to this report, rents in Tehran increased by 51.6 percent in November of this year compared to the same month last year, and by about 54.9 percent in all urban areas.
Source: Radio Farda
