Housing sector presses gov’t to address demands

AMMAN — The housing sector, represented by its association’s president Zuhair Omari, made several demands during a meeting with the Parliament and the Prime Ministry on Wednesday.

 “If you look at our demands, you will see that most of them have to do with other sectors, government-owned or otherwise,” Omari told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

In a report made available to The Jordan Times, the sector issued a list of seven demands touching on the government, banks and construction-material shop owners.

The housing sector asked the government to decrease the 9 per cent real-estate registration fee to 5 per cent.

 “The percentage should be lowered to match the drop in real-estate prices. If a piece of land has decreased in price, so should its registration fee,” Omari said.

However, the sector’s requests are not all new. 

A long-awaited demand by the association in the past years was to exempt apartment buyers from the fees of the first 150 square metres — a request which yet again featured on their list of demands on Wednesday.

Addressing banks, the sector demanded lowering the interest rates on real-estate loans, calling for extra funds to those whose income is below JD1,000, and cutting the red tape to obtain a real-estate loan.

The association demanded the contracting sector to make some changes that include setting a limit on the prices of building materials and allowing the import of some products from neighbouring countries when they cost less than their local alternatives.