This might make me a bit unpopular, (or at least a bit more unpopular), but I guess it goes with the territory.
There has been a long going trend that people (not everyone thank God), building single family homes, turn parts of the house into rentable apartments. This is usually done totally illegally, by taking "store-room" or garages (or even excavating outside the building permit), shoving in a kitchenette and a bathroom and then taking in young couples or other boarders.
Reasons that I've heard for doing this range from
1. "We are doing this for our children/elderly parents" - Yeah right, its children and elderly parents who are inhabiting these hovels
to
2. A more honest "We need the money to help pay off the house mortgage" - Then why build what you couldnt afford? Go live in an apartment! That's what you've got anyway.
What these people dont really give a damn about, is that increasing the population density of a street that was designed for a limited population, a limited number of cars, and a limited load on electricity, sewage and other utilities, simply lowers the standard that the City intended for the street and turns (eventually) the street into a slum. HaMeitzadim street in Maale Adumim, started out as a reasonably nice street, but no longer!
HaGilgal in Mitzpe Nevo, is going to go the same way.
Not to mention that for the most part, these people do not pay the full rates levied by the city.
And why does it really piss me off personally? - Because some people, myself included, who have no intentions of having strangers living in my garage, get grief from the City Planning department, because since they havent been able to deal with people who did turn their houses into apartments, suspect everyone who is building a house of wanting to do the same thing.
I honestly believe that the City should come down hard on this practise. Close up illegal structures and store-rooms used for residences and back charge rates.
Does that sound harsh? Maybe, but a little tour around HaMeitzadim will prove my point
Its not as if I don't have any beefs with the City Engineer and the planning department. But there is a way of dealing with them (another post), albeit painfully long and beurocratic. But no different to most places in the world.
Quite frankly, the City opposition, instead of sucking up to anyone who doesn't like our Mayor and his team (their behaviour and track record is the perfect reason why the Mayor keeps getting reelected). Should get on board and start doing some good for this beautiful city - and that's for another post as well.
Shabbat Shalom
Ches
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Same for Gitit Street. I rented two floors of a villa and there were two other tenants renting two separate small apartments. I never actually knew how the landlord divided up that single electric bill and all my mail came to her somehow wherever it was she lived. Really freaky. But I'm glad I'm out of there into my own place.
ReplyDeleteThere are stories I hear about apartments being divided up into two separate units - also, the utility bills are divided unevenly... making the tenants feel quite uncomfortable with their arrangement. I've got 12 years worth of landlord nightmare stories.
If you're griping about bureaucracy here, then you've got a lot to write about.
:-)
There are two levels of apartments - those that are built in illegal space, and those that are built within the space allocations allowed by the city, but divided into two units (for a family and a young couple).
ReplyDeleteThe city differentiates between these, allowing what they term "mother/child" residences, even if in the end, there is no relation between the people. The sum total of the meters in the house is the same as allocated to the migrash, but divided into a separate unit.
Thus many houses on Gilgal have legal space allocated to a second family (usually smaller to accommodate a parent or young family. On the other hand, the older buildings - such as on Gitit, Hamatzeidim and Hamatziltayim are exactly as you say - people who came to Maale Adumim long ago, and when they wanted to leave, saw that by dividing their legal house into numerous slum-like dwellings, adding on and closing in other areas, etc. - they could rent out 2-3 apartments and make more money.
We've already been told that the landlord on our former house on Hamatziltayim is considering selling to someone who wants to divide the house into 3 apartments (which will be a joke considering the condition of the plumbing, electricity, windows, etc.). This is sight-unseen, so you can imagine how little the potential buyer cares about the condition of the house and/or the people he hopes to rent it to in the future. The house next door to us has had up to 4 families in it, though today it is now rented to two; across the street, they have three families living there.
A few years ago, I spoke to Benny Kashriel years ago about Gush Katif. His theory is that Gush Katif was so "easy" to evacuate because they put one family on a dunam of land, instead of 40 families. The city is run according to the concept of "the more, the better" - thus Benny and his administration love apartments and not Gilgal-type housing. It is all about stuffing the city with as many people as possible and while this is good for the city overall, it certainly gives the city the requirement to provide proper infrastructure. My concern about Gilgal, having just moved there, isn't the single apartment per house in many places, but the access road to the whole neighborhood. A single road will soon have to accommodate some 300 families or more. Another 10 or so families on Gilgal, even 15, is less of a concern than massive projects which strain the neighborhoods resources and facilities, fill public transportation buses.
I think Mitzpe Nevo can handle the additional residents...even Rechov Gilgal, if the individual houses are created for this. I agree, the city should focus on abuses - such as the woman who recently wrote that her landlord was taking her 60 meter apartment and dividing it into two 30 meter apartments (and planning to charge her the same amount for 30 meters as she is currently paying for 60). They should, however, also focus on providing services and infrastructure for the legal buildings - such as Afikei Nevo, which I doubt has enough parking space allocated once it is fully occupied.
There are 2 aspects to this problem.
ReplyDelete1. Why are these 'illegals' forced to become a legal home? Are there no building inspectors checking on this?
2. The fact that these apartments are being rented by lesses (such as ourselves)indicates that there is a NEED/DEMAND in MA this size of accomodation - for smaller households with access to a garden ie not everyone wants to live in a block of flats or has a family big enough for an entire house. To counteract these illegal developments more smaller units with a garden should be built - I hope the mayor reads this. High density living is not the only way to accomodate residents of MA. Not only are size and a garden factors, but more importantly for some is the cost factor. MA needs another reilgious area with suitable and AFFORDABLE accomodation for ALL types of households. Mayor Bennie, take note of what the residents of MA require.
Having lived on HaMeitsadim for a year in an illegally subdivided rental, I can vouch that that street has become a semi-slum.
ReplyDeleteOur nice landlords even rented out the miqlat to a Russian family. Illegal of course, but the important thing to them was to squeeze a few more sheqels out of the building (which they did not maintain properly, on top of everything else).
We since purchased a home in Klei Shir and are extremely happy we moved.