Pinui Binui

What is pinui binui?

Pinui binui means “evacuation and construction” in Hebrew. It is Israel’s urban renewal track for replacing deteriorating apartment complexes with modern residential towers. The process usually involves four things:

• Complete reconstruction: the old buildings are demolished.
• Replacement housing: Check the agreed area, specification, balcony, parking, protected space and delivery conditions against the approved plans and contract.
• Infrastructure: Check which roads, open spaces, utilities and public facilities are approved, funded and actually delivered; they do not come automatically with every scheme.
• Relocation: Confirm temporary rent, moving expenses, payment timing, security and exclusions in the actual agreement.

Pinui binui also affects property values, adds housing supply and renews the neighbourhood.

Why does pinui binui matter?

It matters because many of Israel’s older neighbourhoods, built mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, are ageing and overcrowded. From Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem to Ramat Gan, the results fall into three groups:

• Building specification: Compare the actual approved replacement home, accessibility, services and engineering requirements rather than assuming every project delivers the same amenities.
• Hevron Road 116: Jerusalem’s renewal administration lists this project at the licensing stage. Plans and social objectives do not prove completed parks, occupancy or measured community outcomes.
• Economic outcome: Additional housing or commercial space may affect the area, but higher values, new businesses and investment returns are not guaranteed.

Compare current asking offers with relevant dated recorded transactions; a general renewal description does not establish the price of an individual home.

What do real pinui binui projects look like?

Check the precise address and current planning, permit, construction and occupancy stage for each named example. The following project records do not establish completed delivery for every building.

For a wider view, our urban renewal projects by city tracker lists named plans across Israel with the homes on each site now, the homes planned and each plan’s latest status.

Kiryat Yovel, Jerusalem (Uruguay Street)

• Existing property: Confirm the exact buildings, units and rights included in the applicable approved scheme.
• Recorded stage: Jerusalem’s renewal administration lists Uruguay 11–15 in implementation. Confirm the exact buildings’ construction and occupancy records; this is not proof that residents have returned.

Kiryat Yovel, Jerusalem (Brazil Street)

• Existing property: Confirm the exact buildings, units and rights included in the applicable approved scheme.
• Address-specific stage: The municipal administration lists Brazil 14 and Brazil 4–12 at licensing, and Brazil 26–28 with a plan in effect. These are different projects and do not establish completed construction or usable public facilities.

Central Heights, Giv’atayim

• Existing property: Confirm the exact buildings, units and rights included in the applicable approved scheme.
• Historical plan context: The official 2016 urban-renewal report lists the Givatayim Arvei Nahal scheme with 126 existing and 528 proposed homes in its construction/completion table. Those historical plan counts do not establish today’s occupancy or the condition of a particular home.

Ramat Gan (planned developments)

• Very large projects are planned.

What does the law say about pinui binui?

Israel has simplified how these projects start and get approved. The main points are these:

• Planning and Building Law: sets the rules for zoning, permits and building standards.
• Owner-consent requirements: For the ordinary statutory threshold, check at least two-thirds of the apartments in the complex, at least three-fifths (60%) in each building and apartments carrying more than half of the common-property shares in each building, together with any applicable special rules. This is not automatic permission to evict, build or disregard a reasonable objection; the actual legal route and protections require review.
• Refusal proceedings: Any remedy depends on the statutory route, threshold, reasonableness of the refusal and protections for the affected owner. Reaching a percentage does not guarantee a successful claim or an eviction. Obtain advice on the specific case.
• Tax treatment: Renewal benefits depend on the transaction, statutory conditions and the owner’s circumstances. Confirm each party’s actual position; no blanket exemption for every developer and resident is established.

Declared compounds and the two tracks

The state can formally declare a compound for pinui binui (מתחם מוכרז, mitcham mukhraz). The Government Authority for Urban Renewal describes two tracks:

• Local-authority track: the municipality promotes the plan for the compound, organises the residents and brings them into the process, and can receive support and funding from the Authority.
• Tax track (developers’ track): a private developer signs agreements with the owners and promotes the plan. For the Authority to declare a compound at a developer’s request, the plan must at least have been deposited for objections and must demolish or densify at least 24 existing units, the developer must have signed agreements with the special majority described above, and the local authority must consent (or one of the statutory alternatives must apply).

Declaration matters for tax. The Authority says the owners’ tax exemption in pinui binui applies in a compound declared by the Minister of Construction and Housing or by the Authority’s director, with no limit on how many flats one owner holds there. Which taxes are covered, and on what conditions, depends on the transaction, so check it with a tax adviser before you sign.

Refusing owners: what the law allows and when refusal is reasonable

A refusing owner (דייר סרבן, dayar sarvan) is an owner who will not sign a pinui binui agreement, or makes their signature depend on unreasonable conditions, after the special majority of owners in the cluster has agreed to the deal. If a court finds the refusal unreasonable, the Pinui Binui (Encouragement of Pinui Binui Projects) Law, 2006 lets it do one of two things:

• Damages: hold the refusing owner liable in tort to the owners who agreed, for the loss they suffer because the deal does not go ahead.
• A signature in the owner’s place: approve the deal and appoint a lawyer or accountant to sign it for the refusing owner.

If an owner’s objection comes from their own unlawful building on, or use of, the common property or land next to the building, the court may leave that owner’s rights, or part of them, out of the majority count.

The law also lists cases in which a refusal is not treated as unreasonable, so the remedies above do not apply. According to the Authority, they include these:

• The deal is not economically viable.
• The owner was not offered somewhere to live while the new building goes up, or, where the owner or a family member living with them has a disability, was not offered temporary housing with the adaptations they need.
• The owner was not offered adequate security.
• Special personal circumstances make the deal, on the terms agreed with the other owners, unreasonable for this owner.
• The owner or a family member has a disability and the legal conditions for adapting the permanent replacement flat are not met.
• The owner is a senior who meets the conditions in the next section and was not offered the senior alternatives.

Owners weighing an offer can also ask the Authority to appoint a pinui binui appraiser, who checks whether the deal is economically worthwhile for the owners and, if not, what it would take to make it so. Usually the request comes from a majority of owners who want the deal, and that majority has its own threshold, separate from the one above. The developer pays the appraiser at a rate set in regulations, and the appraiser’s opinion counts as prima facie evidence if a refusing-owner claim reaches court.

Objecting to the plan is a separate right. Once a plan is deposited, anyone who feels harmed by it can object, not only owners in the compound. For plans handled by the Planning Administration, the objection is filed online within 60 days of the plan’s publication (up to three months where the deadline was extended), with a lawyer’s affidavit confirming the facts.

Seniors, residents with disabilities and public-housing tenants

Older owners get extra protection. In the law’s terms, a senior owner has lived in the flat for at least 2 years and was at least 70 years old on the day the first owner in the building signed with the developer. Alongside the replacement flat, the developer must offer senior alternatives. From age 75 it must offer a way out of the project: funding a move to sheltered housing, buying a flat for the owner, or paying the value of the replacement flat in cash to buy one, so the owner does not have to move into a rental. For seniors on income support whose only flat it is, the developer pays the rise in building management and maintenance charges (vaad bayit) for 5 years. Our page on what a pinui binui developer must offer owners over 70 explains each option.

Owners with a disability, or with a family member living with them who has one, are protected through the refusal rules above: temporary or permanent housing without the adaptations they need is a ground to refuse.

Public-housing tenants in a renewal compound can return to a new flat in the compound, or take other options from the Ministry of Construction and Housing, such as another public-housing flat or sheltered housing; the Authority’s glossary also mentions buying the flat they lived in. They will not pay more rent, or more management and maintenance charges, than they paid before the project, subject to the Ministry’s procedures.

What are the biggest challenges?

The two main hurdles are getting residents to agree and paying for the project.

Resident agreement

Residents worry about moving out for a while and about big changes to daily life. Public forums, clear communication and a legal framework for decisions help to settle this.

Project financing

Confirm the developer’s financing, guarantees, approved programme, tax treatment and contingency arrangements. Municipal review and statutory approvals remain necessary; no general promise of accelerated approval removes delay risk.

What is next for pinui binui?

Digital tools and wider use are the two trends to watch.

• Technology: virtual reality tours, interactive design platforms and digital tools let residents preview their future homes, which helps them say yes.
• Wider use: new policies aim to extend pinui binui beyond standard apartment complexes to mixed-use projects, commercial areas and public spaces.

How can you get involved?

Start by learning your rights if you live in an ageing building. Then take three steps:

• Understand your rights: read up on pinui binui rules and benefits.
• Speak to experts: consult a real estate lawyer or a specialised developer about redevelopment options.
• Engage your community: share information, join neighbourhood forums and build consensus.

Our step-by-step urban renewal guide for owners walks through checking feasibility, electing a residents’ representation, hiring an owners’ lawyer, choosing a developer and the Hebrew terms you will meet in the documents.

If you own a flat in an older building and want to know whether it could suit a renewal route, send us your building’s details. That starts an enquiry with our team; whether your building qualifies, and on what terms, depends on the local plan and the specific project.

What does the change look like on the ground?

Outdated concrete blocks give way to new towers with rooftop gardens, playgrounds and community spaces. This has happened in Jerusalem and Giv’atayim, and Ramat Gan projects are planned.

Quick summary

• Pinui binui: Israel’s urban renewal track, replacing ageing blocks with modern housing, infrastructure and amenities.
• Potential benefits: Assess the replacement specification, approved public works, costs and risks. Better living conditions and a higher resale value are possible outcomes, not guarantees.
• Legal checks: Consent thresholds, refusal remedies, approvals and tax treatment have separate requirements; check the exact scheme and affected owner.
• Examples: Jerusalem, Giv’atayim and Ramat Gan.
• Next step: understand your rights and talk to a specialist.

Frequently asked questions

What is pinui binui?

Pinui binui is an evacuate-and-rebuild urban-renewal route. The approved scheme and signed agreement determine the replacement home, temporary accommodation, payment protection and delivery obligations; a larger apartment is not guaranteed for every owner.

How is pinui binui different from TAMA?

TAMA 38 works one building at a time. Where it applies, owners can get a building permit to strengthen and extend their building (38/1) or to demolish and rebuild it (38/2) without a new detailed plan, subject to the local planning committee. Pinui binui replaces a group of old buildings under a new detailed plan for the area, which can also add public buildings, open space, roads and infrastructure.

The legal and tax rules differ too. The refusing-owner rules above apply to pinui binui, while TAMA 38 decisions follow the 2008 earthquake-strengthening law, which sets its own owner shares. The Authority says the owners’ tax exemption in TAMA 38/2 covers one flat per owner in each building, while in a declared pinui binui compound there is no limit on the number of flats. Check whether TAMA 38 rights or a local replacement plan still apply at your address; our TAMA 38 guide covers the programme, and our guide on TAMA and pinui binui and property values compares the two.

What is binui pinui?

Binui pinui (בינוי פינוי, “build, then evacuate”) reverses the order. Where the compound has vacant land, the developer first builds a new building there, moves the existing residents into it, and only then demolishes the old buildings. In ordinary pinui binui, residents move to temporary housing while their buildings are demolished and rebuilt. The approved plan and the agreement decide which order a project follows.

Is pinui binui a safe investment for overseas buyers?

Our urban renewal buyer risk check lists the three things to verify before you sign.

Can an American buy a pinui binui apartment from the USA?

Our guide Can Americans buy property in Israel? covers it.

How many owners must agree to a pinui binui project?

For the ordinary statutory threshold, check at least two-thirds of the apartments in the complex, at least three-fifths (60%) in each building and apartments carrying more than half of the common-property shares in each building, together with any applicable special rules. This is not automatic permission to evict, build or disregard a reasonable objection; the actual legal route and protections require review.

Do residents pay for moving out?

Confirm the actual contract’s temporary rent, moving costs, payment security, duration and exclusions with the owners’ lawyer; no general no-cost promise establishes your entitlement.

Related pages

• How TAMA and pinui binui affect property values
• Urban renewal buyer risk check
• Can Americans buy property in Israel?
• Urban renewal in Givatayim
• The urban renewal fast track