Lawmaker defends rent bill after justice minister lambasts ‘rent controls’

Zionist Union MK Stav Shaffir defends her rent control plan today after it drew criticism from Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked earlier in the day.

“Minister Shaked is detached from the reality of the Israeli rent market,” Shaffir says in a statement, adding that the justice minister “lacks expertise in international legislation on the subject.”

Shaked said earlier today she opposes bills proposed by Shaffir and MK Roy Folkman (Kulanu) that would impose “rent controls” in Israel’s housing market, explaining that the bills required creating a rental registry for enforcement that would only further stifle an already choked housing market.

But according to Shaffir, “MK Folkman and I have already reached agreements with the finance and justice ministries” on a mechanism “that doesn’t require [additional government] oversight, but offers incentives to apartment owners to offer fair rental contracts in exchange for [lower] capital gains taxes on real estate.”

Shaked, she says, “is repeating slogans, and in her rejectionism is neglecting two million renters in Israel who lack even the slightest protection of the state.”

Shaffir argues that “the housing rental market in Israel is not free,” noting the difficulty inherent in moving out of an apartment as rent prices rise, especially for parents of schoolchildren.