If you are at least 70 years old and have lived in your flat for at least 2 years when the first owner in your building signs a Pinui Binui deal with the developer, the developer must offer you more than the standard new flat in the project. Alongside that replacement flat, it has to offer at least one senior alternative: a choice of moving out of the project for good (into a retirement home, into a flat the developer buys for you, or with cash to buy one yourself, all by the evacuation date), two smaller flats in the project, or a smaller flat plus a balancing payment. If you are at least 75 years old, the out-of-project choice is mandatory, so you never have to move into a rental while the new building goes up. If the developer skips these offers, the law says your refusal to sign cannot be treated as unreasonable. This is Israeli law under the Pinui Binui (Encouragement of Pinui Binui Projects) Law, 2006, as the Government Authority for Urban Renewal explains it, checked on 29 October 2026.
Source: Government Authority for Urban Renewal, questions and answers (updated 6 October 2026), checked 29 October 2026.
Pinui Binui (פינוי בינוי, “evacuate and build”) is the renewal route where old buildings are demolished and replaced by a denser new project, with each owner getting a new flat. If the idea is new to you, start with our Pinui Binui guide. This page answers one question: what extra protection the law gives older owners, and what that means for you or a parent living in an older block.
Who counts as a senior owner?
The law calls this owner a kashish (קשיש, senior). You qualify if both of these are true on the date the first owner in your building signs a Pinui Binui deal with that developer:
- You are at least 70 years old according to the Population Registry.
- You have lived in the flat, in that same building, for at least 2 years.
The date that counts is your neighbour’s first signature, not the day you sign. So a parent who turns 70 a month after the first neighbour signed does not qualify, while one who turned 70 a month before it does, even if they sign a year later. Owners who bought as an investment and do not live in the flat are outside these rules.
Example (illustrative): your mother has lived in her Ramat Gan flat since 2010 and turned 70 in March 2025. The first owner in her building signed with the developer in June 2025. She meets both conditions, so the developer must put the senior alternatives in front of her before her refusal could be called unreasonable.
What must the developer offer you?
Every owner is offered a replacement flat (דירת תמורה, dirat tmura) in the new project. For a senior owner, the developer must also offer at least one of these three routes. At 70 to 74 the developer picks which route to offer; you then choose between it and the standard replacement flat.
- A move out of the project, your choice of three. You pick one of: a move to a retirement home (the law says beit horim, בית הורים; the Authority describes it as assisted living, diur mugan), with balancing payments, worth about the capitalised value of your replacement flat; a flat the developer buys for you, of similar capitalised value, handed over by the evacuation date and, if you ask, as close as possible to your current home; or cash equal to the capitalised value of the replacement flat, so you can buy a flat yourself, paid no later than the evacuation date.
- Two smaller flats in the project whose combined value is similar to the replacement flat. This can suit an owner who wants one flat to live in and one to rent out or give to a child.
- One smaller new flat in the project plus balancing payments, so that the total is similar in value to the replacement flat.
“Capitalised value” (שווי מהוון, shovi mehuvan) matters. You get the out-of-project flat or cash years before your neighbours get their new flats, so its value is discounted for that early timing. Expect it to be lower than the value the new flat will have on completion, and ask for the calculation in writing. Kol Zchut notes that the exact method of calculating it has not yet been set.
What changes at 75?
If you were at least 75 years old on the first signature date, the developer no longer picks the route. It must offer you the first route, the three-way out-of-project choice, alongside the replacement flat. The Authority’s wording is that the developer must offer owners aged 75 and over a housing solution outside the project that saves them from moving into a rental. The developer may also offer the two-flat or smaller-flat routes, but it does not have to.
The same stronger rule covers an owner who is terminally ill (חולה הנוטה למות), as defined in the Dying Patient Law, 2005. Both changes were made by a law published in November 2021; before that, the stronger rule started at age 80.
A 2023 law added a third group: an owner living in the flat who, on the first signature date, was entitled to certain National Insurance long-term care benefits (גמלת סיעוד, gemlat siud). That addition applies only to an owner who had not yet signed on 1 June 2023, in a building where no more than 30% of the owners had signed by that day.
Your options as an older owner, side by side
| Option | Where you live during construction | What it is worth | Must be offered at 70 to 74? | Must be offered at 75 or over? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard replacement flat in the project | Alternative housing for the construction period, which the deal must offer | The replacement flat set in the deal | Yes, to every owner | Yes, to every owner |
| Move to a retirement home | You move straight in, by the evacuation date | Similar to the capitalised value of the replacement flat, including balancing payments | Only if the developer chooses the out-of-project route | Yes, as one of three choices |
| Flat the developer buys for you | You move straight in, by the evacuation date | Similar to the capitalised value of the replacement flat | Only if the developer chooses the out-of-project route | Yes, as one of three choices |
| Cash to buy your own flat | Wherever you buy, paid by the evacuation date | The capitalised value of the replacement flat | Only if the developer chooses the out-of-project route | Yes, as one of three choices |
| Two smaller flats in the project | Temporary housing until the new building is ready | Combined value similar to the replacement flat | Only if the developer chooses this route | Optional for the developer |
| Smaller flat plus balancing payments | Temporary housing until the new building is ready | Similar to the replacement flat in total | Only if the developer chooses this route | Optional for the developer |
Our summary of section 2(b)(6) and (7) of the Pinui Binui (Encouragement of Pinui Binui Projects) Law, 2006, and the Authority’s questions and answers, checked 29 October 2026. A comparison guide, not an official form.
Who pays the higher building charges in the new building?
New buildings usually cost more to run: lifts, parking, a lobby, a management company. For 5 years from the day you take possession of the replacement flat, and for as long as you live there, the developer pays the increase in management and maintenance charges (the building committee charges, vaad bayit, ועד בית) above what you paid before the old building was demolished, if all of these apply to you or a spouse who lives with you:
- You had reached retirement age when you took possession of the new flat.
- The replacement flat is your only flat.
- You receive income support (הבטחת הכנסה, havtachat hachnasa) from National Insurance.
This rule is in section 19 of the Government Authority for Urban Renewal Law, 2016, and it also covers TAMA 38 projects that demolish and rebuild. A contract cannot take it away from you; it can only be varied in your favour. After the period ends, you pay the full charges like every other owner, so plan for that step up.
When is it reasonable to refuse to sign?
Once the special majority of owners in the cluster has agreed to a deal, an owner who refuses unreasonably can be sued for the damage the refusal causes the others, or a court can appoint a lawyer or accountant to sign the deal in their place. Our urban renewal guide covers the majorities. The law lists situations in which a refusal is not treated as unreasonable, among them when:
- the deal is not economically viable;
- you were not offered somewhere to live during construction, or, if you or a family member living with you has a disability, that temporary housing lacks the adaptations you need;
- you were not offered adequate security (guarantees) for the developer’s obligations;
- special personal circumstances make the deal unreasonable for you on the terms agreed with the other owners;
- you or a family member living with you has a disability and the permanent replacement flat does not include the adaptations the law requires;
- you are a senior owner and were not offered the alternatives described above.
The reverse also holds. If the developer did offer the senior alternatives and you still refuse, the senior ground no longer protects you, and a court will weigh your other reasons. The senior rules give you choices, not a veto.
Signed in a language you do not understand?
Many English-speaking owners and their parents read Hebrew contracts with difficulty. Under section 5B of the 2006 law, the Commissioner for Residents’ Complaints at the Government Authority for Urban Renewal can declare a Pinui Binui deal void if it was signed abusively: for example, signed in a language the owner did not understand without the developer explaining its main terms in a language they do understand, or signed by exploiting the owner’s medical, mental or cognitive condition, or after misleading information about how many neighbours had agreed. The Commissioner’s finding is prima facie evidence in any later court case.
What if you rent public housing in the building?
Tenants of public housing (דיור ציבורי, diur tziburi) are not owners, so the senior alternatives above do not apply to them, but section 18 of the 2016 law gives them their own rights. A public housing tenant can choose to rent a new flat in the renewed compound, or take another option the Housing Ministry offers, such as another public housing flat or sheltered housing. A tenant who returns will not be charged more rent, or more management and maintenance, than before the project, at the rates and conditions set by the Housing Minister and the Ministry’s procedures. The Authority’s glossary adds that tenants may be able to buy the flat they lived in, under the public housing purchase rules.
A checklist for older owners and their families
- Pin down the dates. Ask the developer or the residents’ representatives for the date the first owner in the building signed, and check it against your Population Registry birth date and how long you have lived in the flat.
- Ask for the senior offer in writing. It should sit next to the standard replacement flat offer, with the route or routes the developer is offering and the evacuation date.
- Get the numbers explained. Ask how the capitalised value was calculated and what the replacement flat is worth, and have a lawyer who represents you and an appraiser review both before you choose.
- Think about where you want to live in five or ten years. A retirement home, a nearby flat now or a new flat later each suit different health, family and money situations. Our guide to diur mugan explains how Israeli assisted-living deposits and fees work.
- Check the maintenance help. If you are of retirement age and on income support, make sure the deal reflects the developer’s duty to cover higher building charges for the first 5 years.
- Know where to complain. Pressure to sign, unclear terms or a contract you could not read can be raised with the Commissioner for Residents’ Complaints at the Authority (general line 074-7681400, as listed on the Authority’s service pages).
Retirees planning the next stage can also read senior benefits in Israel and our retirement in Israel overview.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm with a licensed professional.
Sources
- Government Authority for Urban Renewal, questions and answers on urban renewal (published 27 January 2020, updated 6 October 2026): sections on refusing owners, special populations and the Commissioner for Residents’ Complaints.
- Government Authority for Urban Renewal, urban renewal glossary: public housing and the 2006 law.
- Reshumot, Sefer HaChukim 2749 (29 July 2018): Pinui Binui (Compensation) (Amendment No. 6) Law, 2018, which added the senior definition and alternatives.
- Reshumot, Sefer HaChukim 2933 (18 November 2021): Economic Plan Law for 2021 and 2022, which lowered the stronger rule from 80 to 75, added terminally ill owners, and rewrote the abusive signing grounds.
- Reshumot, Sefer HaChukim 3046 (6 June 2023): Economic Plan Law for 2023 and 2024, sections 22 and 23, which added owners entitled to long-term care benefits and set when that applies.
- Pinui Binui (Encouragement of Pinui Binui Projects) Law, 2006, sections 1, 2 and 5B, and Government Authority for Urban Renewal Law, 2016, sections 18 and 19, consolidated text as checked on 29 October 2026.
- Kol Zchut, special consideration for seniors in Pinui Binui: capitalised value and worked examples.
- Government Authority for Urban Renewal, renewal appraiser service page: contact details.
Is your building, or a parent’s, heading into Pinui Binui? Send us the address through our urban renewal enquiry page. We’ll go through where the project stands, which senior options apply on your dates, and whether staying, moving out early or selling fits your family best.
