An effort to promote the development of residential housing for the next two years

The goal of the initiative group is to support the start of construction on buildable plots and the completion of existing planning projects quickly and safely. The group will also evaluate new areas that could be suitable for development and ensure that systematic work is carried out to make the areas fit for construction.

Simplify decision-making and enhance dialogue with developers.

The mayor's mission statement says that in light of the situation in the construction and credit market and the slower development of housing in the last few years, at the same time that the need for housing is constantly growing for various reasons, it is important to promote a more targeted development and the speed of planning and preparation work. The initiative group is mainly intended to bring selected construction and development areas in Reykjavík to the construction stage as soon as possible. Work will be done based on Reykjavík's housing plan, existing declarations of intent with land owners and housing associations, as well as the housing agreement and the goals of the master plan. The project meets the general pressing need for housing development but also meets the increased demand due to Grindvík's housing problems.

Will support the city's ambitious housing plans

In recent years, the City of Reykjavík has worked systematically to increase the development of residential housing in the city, based on the housing plans and goals of Reykjavík's master plan. In the plans, it has been proposed to increase the overall supply of apartments, increase the diversity of apartment types and forms of residence, and the participation of non-profit housing associations.

The mayor's proposal, which was approved by the city council today, says: "Although the city's land supply has increased during the election period and it is already possible to build more than 2,600 apartments on plots with an approved regional plan, the development of residential housing has slowed down. In the last 12 months, developers have had extremely unfavourable terms on construction loans due to the state of the economy and high-interest rates. According to the city's statistics, there is a decline in the number of projects that should have started last year, and according to a recent report by the Swedish Industry Association, there is a continued decline in the development of residential housing nationwide this year. The City of Reykjavík wants to respond to this situation by launching a special initiative group in housing matters with a mission statement.