Housing Crisis Deepens in Iran; Some Income Brackets Cannot Afford Rent

An assistant at the 'New Cities Development Company' has reported a worsening housing crisis in Iran, stating that today some income brackets cannot even afford to rent housing. Nasser Rezaei referred to the dire living conditions of the people, mentioning that there are individuals in the 'Mehr Housing' program who cannot even pay the building maintenance fees. According to this assistant, currently, the situation in the country is such that six income brackets completely lack the ability to purchase a home. Rezaei emphasized that 'we are facing people who, even if we provide them with housing, cannot maintain it.' The decrease in people's purchasing power is the main factor hindering applicants from acquiring housing. In this regard, the Research Center of the Parliament reported in the summer of 2023 that currently three income brackets are 'absolutely' unable to secure the housing they need, while the fourth and fifth brackets and even part of the sixth are 'relatively' unable to do so. The crisis in the housing sector has led to the prevalence of small units, shared family living, basement sleeping, reverse urban migration, and other significant problems, despite Ibrahim Raisi having promised to build one million housing units annually in the early days of his government. Today, more than two and a half years into Raisi's administration, not only is there no news of housing construction, but the establishment of a 'Construction Headquarters for Workers' housing' proposed by the Minister of Labor remains merely a news item. The record for the historic increase in rent prices in Iran was broken during Raisi's government. The waiting period for purchasing a home has exceeded 100 years; homeownership has become unattainable. Housing remains out of reach; rent inflation is leading. An economic newspaper reported that the real inflation is higher than the official statistics.