Urban Renewal in Israel: TAMA 38 and Pinui Binui

Urban renewal in Israel means strengthening or replacing an old apartment building so the same plot holds more and better homes. It runs on two programmes: TAMA 38 for a single building and Pinui Binui for a whole block. A developer pays for the work and sells the extra units; the owners’ replacement accommodation and costs depend on the signed agreement and applicable rules. This page is the wiki entry for the topic and sits inside our Israel real estate investment opportunities guide; the buying steps around it are in the buying process.

What is urban renewal in Israel?

A future station does not establish a renewal deal. Check the national plan and station-area framework, the detailed plan and the actual project agreement before relying on additional floors or a completion date.

Urban renewal is the replacement or reinforcement of old apartment buildings, paid for by a developer who gets to build and sell extra apartments on the same land. Owners usually receive a new, larger and safer unit, often with an elevator, parking and a safe room. For an investor, the appeal is buying an old, cheaper apartment and ending up owning a new one, with the gain coming from the upgrade rather than from the wider market.

The government’s planning definition is wider than these two programmes. A government decision quoted in the Planning Administration’s glossary treats as urban renewal (התחדשות עירונית, hitchadshut ironit) any plan that adds homes in the existing built-up area, including Pinui Binui, densification of existing buildings, infill building on vacant lots and TAMA 38.

The reason the state pushes it is supply. Israel keeps building, but completions lag. Housing starts hit about 81,020 in the 12 months to September 2025 (a record, +31.5% year on year, per the CBS). Old, central neighbourhoods with land value but tired buildings are where a lot of the new supply has to come from.

It is also the biggest trap in the market. A flyer that says a building “will” be renewed is not a project. Many buildings collect owner signatures and never reach a permit, and timelines run many years. The skill is telling a real deal from a hope.

Which renewal track is this, TAMA 38 or Pinui Binui?

The fastest way to read a renewal deal is to know which track it sits on. The two differ in scale, in who must agree and in how long they take.

Feature	TAMA 38	Pinui Binui
Scale	One building	Whole block (many buildings)
Two sub-types	38/1 strengthen and add floors; 38/2 demolish and rebuild one building	Demolish all and rebuild the block at higher density
New permit applications	Verify the current local plan and transitional route for the exact site	Verify the site-specific plan, declarations and licensing route
Owner consent to override holdouts	Building-level rules	Qualified cluster, building and common-property thresholds; legal review required
Typical timeline	Several years (permitted projects)	Often more than a decade from first signature to keys
Investor fit	Smaller, simpler, fewer owners	Bigger upside, more delay risk

A third route now exists for compounds damaged in the war. Under a 2026 law the government can declare a damaged compound a rehabilitation area, and owners there choose between a new apartment and a cash exit priced by the government’s appraiser, on a fixed statutory clock. It is explained under Pinui Binui below.

What is TAMA 38?

TAMA 38 describes building-level strengthening or demolition and reconstruction. The applicable current route and transitional arrangements must be checked for the specific municipality and site; do not use a single national cutoff date as a substitute for that check. See Tel Aviv’s official explanation of renewal routes. The earlier dated report on an extension is historical context, not a current permit determination.

Legally, TAMA 38 is a national outline plan (תמ”א, tochnit mitar artzit) for strengthening homes against earthquakes, meaning engineering work to strengthen a building’s foundations. Its incentive is extra building rights, and where it applies, a building permit can be issued under it directly, without first preparing and approving a detailed plan. Section 23 of TAMA 38 lets a local committee prepare its own plan setting how the TAMA 38 provisions apply in its planning area, which is one reason the rules for the same kind of project can differ from city to city. Tel Aviv’s quarter plans for the Old North and New North are covered on our page on what Tel Aviv Quarter Plans 3 and 4 allow you to build.

Which TAMA 38 sub-type fits a building?

TAMA 38/1 keeps the building and strengthens it. It usually adds an elevator, balconies, a safe room and one or more new floors for the developer to sell, and owners often stay in their homes through much of the work. TAMA 38/2 demolishes the single building and rebuilds it from the ground up, so owners move out and return to a new unit. The full breakdown is on our TAMA 38 explained (38/1 vs 38/2) page.

Can a TAMA 38 project still start?

Ask the local planning committee which current statutory plan and licensing route applies to the address. A project advertised using the name TAMA 38 may involve existing approvals or a replacement local route. Verify the actual application and decision rather than treating the marketing label as an approval.

What is Pinui Binui?

Pinui Binui (“evacuate and build”) renews a whole block at once: many old buildings come down and a denser new neighbourhood goes up. Owners move out, the developer builds, and owners return to new, larger apartments. Because it works at block scale it needs many owners to agree, which is why the consent rules matter so much.

Unlike TAMA 38, Pinui Binui cannot go straight to a permit. The block first needs an approved detailed plan (תב”ע, taba). According to the Authority’s renewal glossary, the district planning committee approves most renewal plans. A local committee can approve Pinui Binui and renewal compound plans itself only if it has been certified as a special independent local committee (ועדה מקומית עצמאית מיוחדת) under section 62A(a2) of the Planning and Building Law, 1965, and some large Pinui Binui plans go to the national committee for preferred housing areas (VATMAL, ותמ”ל) instead. While a plan is being prepared, the planning body may announce it and restrict new building permits in the area for a limited time (sections 77 and 78 of the law). The approval steps are set out in the section on plan approval below.

What is the two-thirds rule?

The statutory qualified-majority framework requires at least two-thirds of apartments in the cluster, together with building-level and common-property conditions. The ordinary building threshold is at least 60%, and more than half of the common property in each building must be attached to the relevant apartments. The applicable law includes additional conditions and special cases. Meeting a percentage does not automatically authorise a sale, eviction or construction; have a lawyer verify the exact threshold and any court process for unreasonable refusal. See how Pinui Binui works.

What does an official Pinui Binui declaration mean?

A declared compound (מתחם מוכרז, mitcham mukhraz) is a block that the director of the Government Authority for Urban Renewal has declared a Pinui Binui compound under section 14 of the Government Authority for Urban Renewal Law, 2016. Before a 2021 amendment, the Housing Minister made these declarations. According to the Authority’s declaration service page, the declaration is what opens several tools: tax relief on land appreciation tax (mas shevach), purchase tax and VAT on construction services in Pinui Binui deals in the compound; special betterment-levy arrangements under section 3A of the Third Schedule to the Planning and Building Law; and the option of suing an owner who unreasonably refuses, under the conditions of the Pinui Binui (Encouragement of Pinui Binui Projects) Law, 2006. The Authority’s compounds page adds that a declaration also lets the plan move forward in certain planning institutions. Each relief has its own conditions, so a declaration is a precondition, not a promise that a particular owner qualifies.

The declaration takes effect only when the director’s declaration order is published in Reshumot, the official gazette. The Authority then posts a notice on its website and sends a copy to the municipal renewal administration or the city engineer, and the local authority must also post it on its own website. A declaration has no time limit, but the director can cancel it as the law provides.

When a developer asks for a declaration, the Authority checks three conditions:

• A plan at least deposited for objections by the planning body that can approve it, allowing demolition or densification of at least 24 existing homes or other units and building a multiple of the existing number, and at least 70 units, whichever is higher.
• The special majority described above, in signed Pinui Binui agreements: at least two-thirds of the apartments in the cluster, at least 60% of the apartments in each building, and more than half of each building’s common property attached to the signing owners’ apartments.
• Local consent. The local authority consents, or one of four alternatives in section 14(a1) applies: the district committee is the approving body and the local committee recommended depositing the plan; the plan is in the national housing committee (VATMAL) track and the city council agreed to its intake there; an independent special local committee decided to deposit it; or the compound lies in an area marked for compound planning in a renewal plan under section 64(b) of the Planning and Building Law.

Not everything that looks official is a declaration. The Authority’s list of renewal compounds shows five kinds: declared compounds; compounds a public body is planning even if they are not declared; developer compounds whose plans met the planning institution’s intake thresholds but are not yet declared; compounds inside areas the government declared preferred housing compounds; and compounds in execution, where a building permit was issued or building started. Check which category the compound is in. A preliminary approval (אישור מקדמי, ishur mukdami) is not a declaration either. It lets the developer report to the Tax Authority to defer the tax liability date under section 49כ of the Land Taxation Law and use some of the special renewal planning tracks, and the Authority says granting it does not commit the Authority to a declaration. The full procedure, documents and state support are in our guide to how Pinui Binui compounds are declared, approved and funded.

War-damaged buildings: a separate rehabilitation track

Since April 2026, compounds hit in the war can be renewed under their own law, the War-Damage Rehabilitation through Urban Renewal Law, 2026 (חוק שיקום נזקי מלחמה בדרך של התחדשות עירונית, chok shikum nizkei milchama). The government declares a damaged compound a rehabilitation area by order, on the recommendation of a statutory advisory team. On the official list of declared areas, last updated 8 September 2026, there are 8 areas (nine compounds, because Bat Yam has two): in Arad, Dimona, Rehovot, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak, Haifa and Bat Yam. A declaration means some or all of the buildings will be demolished and rebuilt, and every owner chooses between a new apartment in the new buildings (a rehabilitation deal, עסקת שיקום, iskat shikum) and cash for the existing or destroyed apartment (an exit agreement, הסכם יציאה, heskem yetzia). Both deals are signed with a developer, not with the state.

Three things set it apart from ordinary Pinui Binui:

• A fixed clock. Owner deadlines run in working days from the declaration. The Chief Government Appraiser values every unit in the area and sends the appraisal within 40 working days, and an owner who thinks the value is wrong can object.
• A cash price set by the state’s appraiser. The basic price is the value, before the damage, of a similar new apartment in the area. An owner who signs an exit agreement within 95 working days of the declaration gets the increased price instead: the basic price plus the value of one third of the extra floor area the local committee’s compensation policy would give a replacement flat, or 4 sq m of main-use area where there is no policy.
• A different majority. The Authority’s director approves one rehabilitation developer for the whole area once it has signed owners of more than half the properties in more than half the buildings, including a majority in every undamaged building, or owners of at least 80% of all the properties. Either kind of deal counts toward it.

An owner who signed a Pinui Binui deal before the declaration may cancel it during the first 50 working days, on condition of signing an exit agreement with the same developer. Each area’s deadlines, the exit price in detail and the tax position are in our guide to the war-damage rebuilding law, its declared areas and owners’ options. The Authority’s guide to the law (updated 22 October 2026) is the official summary.

Build first, then move: newer variations

Some recent plans change the usual order. The plan for Be’er Ya’akov’s old centre (TML/2054), approved for deposit by VATMAL in August 2026, allows a “build, then evacuate” process (בינוי-פינוי, binui-pinui): new apartment buildings go up first on the site of the public swimming pool, so some residents can move into new homes before their old buildings are demolished. VATMAL’s acting chair said the plan extends renewal tools to areas of ground-attached houses as well. Separately, the Government Authority for Urban Renewal is promoting Pinui Binui plans in cities with high earthquake risk, such as the HaDekel neighbourhood of Eilat; the Tamarim compound plan there, given final approval by the Southern District Committee (reported on 1 October 2026), relies on Appraisal Standard 21.1 and on government subsidy to keep the project economically viable.

Near the Lebanon border the state also helps pay for renewal. Under government decision 4195 of 2 June 2026, the Authority gets up to ILS 704,000,000 to help fund Pinui Binui in compounds that are not economically viable, in the communities up to 9 km from the border that the decision covers. Where Pinui Binui plans are already moving forward there, Pinui Binui is the default way to protect and strengthen those homes, unless the government’s inter-ministerial team decides a building is better served by building-level renewal, by strengthening and protection, or by protection only.

How is a renewal plan approved?

Protect the formal objection deadline. Our building-plan objection guide explains deposited documents, affidavits, public-file privacy, hearing notices and the separate appeal stage.

A Pinui Binui plan goes through the statutory planning process before anyone can apply for a building permit, and knowing the step tells you how much risk is left. These are the steps as the Planning Administration’s glossary (updated 22 October 2026) describes them:

A planning body’s decision takes effect when it is made, cannot be changed without a new hearing, and must be posted on the body’s website within 3 working days, so you can check a claimed approval yourself. Two more tools matter in block renewal. A union and division plan (איחוד וחלוקה, ichud ve-chaluka) merges the existing parcels and redivides them into new lots, with or without the owners’ consent, while keeping each owner’s relative share of the land value; a licensed appraiser prepares the allocation table, or the allocation and balancing table where owners did not consent. And an owner whose land loses value because an approved plan covers or borders it can claim compensation under Chapter 9 of the Planning and Building Law, within the deadlines set there.

What does an owner get and give?

An owner gives up the old apartment, lives elsewhere during demolition and building, and signs an agreement with the developer. In return the owner gets a new unit that is usually larger and comes with an elevator, parking and a safe room, on the terms agreed with the developer. What exactly the owner receives (size, floor, parking, deadlines and penalties) is set in the owner-developer agreement, not in the programme itself, so the agreement is the document to read.

Two costs are easy to forget. The agreement sets who pays the temporary rent and the move; read that clause before signing. The owner may also owe a betterment levy (Hetel Hashbacha) on the planning value uplift. That levy is normally 50% of the uplift, paid at realisation, but urban renewal projects may qualify for a reduced 25% rate or an exemption (per a Jerusalem real estate betterment-tax guide). Owners who plan to sell a flat inside a project should read selling an urban renewal property first.

Some owners have extra protections. According to the Authority’s questions and answers, a Pinui Binui developer must offer senior owners dedicated alternatives alongside the replacement flat, and must cover for a fixed period the higher building maintenance costs in the new building for seniors on income support whose only home it is. Who counts as a senior and what the alternatives are is on our page on what a Pinui Binui developer must offer owners over 70. Public-housing tenants may return to a new apartment in the renewed compound or take other options from the Ministry of Construction and Housing, including another public-housing flat or assisted living, and are not charged more rent or building maintenance than before, subject to the ministry’s procedures.

How a developer tests whether a deal works (Standard 21)

The state pays for renewal with building rights, not cash. To fund demolition and rebuilding, or strengthening, the owners receive building rights that they sell to the developer in return for the works. The developer checks viability from the number of existing flats, the local price per square metre and how many extra flats it needs to cover its costs and profit. The ratio of planned homes to existing homes in a plan is called the density multiplier (מקדם הציפוף, mekadem ha-tziputz).

For Pinui Binui the yardstick is Appraisal Standard 21, set by the Real Estate Appraisers Council. It counts the project costs (planning, demolition, marketing, finance, construction and tax), the costs of looking after residents (guarantees, rent during construction, the owners’ own professionals and a building maintenance fund) and the developer’s income from selling the added flats. The Government Appraiser sets minimum developer profit rates that vary by region, and each project is judged on its own facts. The Authority’s online viability calculator for Pinui Binui compounds is an aid only and, in the Authority’s words, does not replace an appraisal of the specific project.

Two published cases show how this plays out. In January 2026 the chief executive of one of the developers of the first Pinui Binui plan in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev said the project would build about 6.5 new apartments for each one demolished, high for Jerusalem because of a 30-metre height difference across the site, and estimated the developer’s profit at 17%; that is the developer’s own estimate, not an official figure. In Ramat Gan, a plan for the Abba Hillel, Rashi and Arnia compound, approved by the Tel Aviv District Committee as reported in August 2026, ties two extra floors and 20 extra homes to a long-term maintenance fund for the new towers, which the committee called the first mechanism of its kind in the Gush Dan area.

Agreements and owner representation before signing

An agreement to organize a renewal transaction is not the same as the final Pinui Binui or TAMA 38 project agreement. An organizing agreement can bind an owner to exclusivity for a limited period; its continued validity depends on statutory deadlines, the owners’ signatures and project progress. Ask the owners’ lawyer to check the actual document and the rules that apply before signing. See the Tel Aviv municipality’s renewal glossary.

For a Pinui Binui project whose first deal is signed after 14 February 2022, the Urban Renewal Authority says the developer must hold or take part in an owners’ meeting before the first deal in each building and give every owner the main terms in writing at least 2 weeks before the first deal in each building. The detailed requirements apply separately to each building. Ask the owners’ lawyer how the rules apply to your project.

Owners can choose a representative committee to coordinate with the developer, professionals, the local authority and planning bodies, and to keep owners informed. Its members usually volunteer, and it need not be the ordinary building committee. The Authority says this role does not itself authorize the committee to sign for the owners or make major project decisions; the agreement can give it a defined role in routine decisions. Owners should choose their own lawyer and check representation and conflicts before signing.

From first meeting to new keys

The Government Authority for Urban Renewal describes five stages for moving a TAMA 38 or Pinui Binui project forward.

Our step-by-step urban renewal guide for owners, with the key terms explains each stage and the documents you will be asked to sign.

Complaining to the Authority’s commissioner: what it can and cannot do

The Government Authority for Urban Renewal has a Commissioner for Residents’ Complaints (הממונה על פניות הדיירים, ha-memuna al pniyot ha-dayarim) who looks into residents’ complaints about urban renewal projects. The Authority’s questions and answers give examples: the conduct of a municipal renewal administration, a developer or other residents, including unreasonable pressure on an owner to join a project; an organizer who did not act for the owners in trust and good faith, or withheld material information, contrary to the Urban Renewal (Agreements for Organizing Transactions) Law, 2017; and an owner who signed a Pinui Binui deal in a language they do not know without the main terms being explained in a language they do know.

Under that page, the commissioner can rule that a complaint is justified because a law was breached, that an organizing agreement has lapsed under sections 5 and 6 of the 2017 law, or that a Pinui Binui deal is void because it was obtained by abusive signing under section 5B of the 2006 law. Such a ruling is prima facie evidence of what it finds in any legal proceeding.

The commissioner’s decisions, posted on gov.il between May and October 2026, show where the limits are. Read the full decision before relying on one:

• Bring evidence. A complaint was closed because no supporting documents were attached, and another, filed with no evidence at all and no power of attorney, could not be investigated.
• A representative needs a power of attorney. Anyone filing for owners, such as a lawyer, must provide a power of attorney to represent them before the commissioner.
• Ask only for what the commissioner can order. Complaints that asked for remedies outside its authority were rejected or closed.
• Commercial disputes are not enough on their own. Complaints about the consideration or the contract terms were closed where there was no evidence of a breach of the law or of unreasonable pressure. A dispute over the deal itself is one for your own lawyer.
• Organizing agreements. The commissioner has no authority to cancel an organizing agreement, and its power to treat a transaction as lapsed under the deadlines in the law applies only to organizing transactions.
• Planning decisions. The commissioner has no authority over decisions of the planning authorities. Ask your lawyer how to raise a planning objection.

A complaint does not replace your own lawyer. Our note on choosing a lawyer for urban renewal covers what owners should check, and the red flags when buying property in Israel page lists the warning signs to look for before anyone signs.

What should a buyer check before signing?

A buyer should verify the stage, the developer and the paperwork before any money moves. Do not rely on a salesperson’s summary; have an Israeli real estate lawyer confirm each item from the documents. The short version is on our buyer risk check page.

1. Confirm the real stage. Ask for the actual permit or committee decision, not a marketing brochure. “Approved” can mean many different things.
2. Check the signed-owner percentage. For Pinui Binui, is the two-thirds threshold actually met, in writing?
3. Vet the developer. Look at past completed projects, financial backing, and a bank guarantee under the sale law for your payments.
4. Read the owner-developer agreement. What exactly do you receive (size, floor, parking), and what are the developer’s deadlines and penalties?
5. Confirm the rights register (Tabu or Israel Land Authority). Make sure the title is clean and matches what you are buying.
6. Get tax and levy advice in writing before signing.

The same habits apply to any older building, so also read building risks for buyers in Israel and checking building permits before buying. If the flat has a safe room, see the mamad safe room page.

How do you price a renewal deal by stage?

Price tracks how far the project has cleared, because each completed step removes a real risk. An early-stage apartment is cheap because it might never be built; a permitted, pre-evacuation apartment costs much more but financing, construction, contract, occupancy and market risks remain. Pay for the stage you are actually at, not for the finished building you are being shown. The stages, roughly in order, are: (1) rumour, (2) owners signing, (3) supermajority signed and plan submitted to the committee, (4) committee approval, (5) building permit, (6) evacuation and demolition, (7) completion. The gap between stage 1 and stage 5 can be many years and can fail at any point.

Project stages and illustrative pricing

Stage	What it means	Risk left
1. Rumour	Talk only, no signed owners	Very high (may never start)
2. Owners signing	Some owners signed a developer agreement	High
3. Submitted	Supermajority signed, plan filed with the committee	Medium to high
4. Committee approval	Plan approved in principle	Medium
5. Permit	Permit issued; check its conditions and any separate start-of-work requirements	Lower
6. Evacuation	Owners moving out, demolition near	Low (mostly build risk)
7. Completion	New building done and handed over	Minimal

Our own stage-pricing example (illustrative, not an official figure). Say a finished new apartment in the area would be worth about 2,500,000 NIS, and a developer needs roughly 2 years of construction plus realistic delay. If you only accept a 10% annual return for the time and risk you carry, a permitted, pre-build unit (stage 5 to 6) might rationally trade near 2,500,000 / (1.10 squared) = about 2,066,000 NIS. An earlier-stage unit with, say, 5 years of waiting and failure risk should sit far below that: 2,500,000 / (1.10 to the power 5) = about 1,552,000 NIS. More waiting and more risk means a lower price today. Confirm the local comparable value yourself; these inputs are illustrative. The full method is on our pricing a renewal deal by stage page.

What should a renter or an investor expect?

A lease in a building heading for evacuation needs a clause that says what happens when the evacuation date comes. The lease terms and the benefits and downsides of renting in such a building are covered on TAMA 38 and Pinui Binui for renters and in the question page benefits of renting in a renewed building.

An investor should expect a long hold. Renewal usually raises value, but the size and timing of the gain depend on the stage and the area. The closer a project is to a permit, the more of the future value is already priced in, so buying early is where the bigger discount, and the bigger risk, sits. The detailed analysis is on do TAMA 38 and Pinui Binui raise value? and the case for older apartments is on the renewal investment page.

Illustrative value-uplift example

Our own value-uplift example (illustrative, not an official figure). Suppose you buy an old unit at stage 2 for 1,400,000 NIS and the finished new unit is worth about 2,500,000 NIS. The headline gain looks like 2,500,000 minus 1,400,000 = 1,100,000 NIS, or about a 79% rise. Spread that over, say, 6 years and the compound growth is only 1,400,000 times (1 + r) to the power 6 = 2,500,000, which solves to about 10.1% per year before costs, tax, and the chance the deal slips or dies. That is a useful return, not a lottery win, and it assumes the project completes.

Can foreign buyers join a renewal deal?

Yes, with practical limits. Tax and financing bite hardest. Most foreign residents pay the higher additional-home purchase-tax schedule (8% up to a threshold, 10% above it, as set out above), and banks in practice lend foreign buyers around 50% of value, not the higher amounts an Israeli first-home buyer can get; under Bank of Israel loan-to-value rules an additional-property buyer is capped at 50% regardless. That practice figure is not a published cap, so treat it as a guide and confirm it with a mortgage adviser. For context, foreign buyers are roughly 10% of investment-apartment transactions (ITA data, 2021 to 2024), a segment figure, not all purchases. The slow, multi-year nature of renewal also matters more for a buyer who lives abroad and cannot easily oversee a project. How renewal fits a wider plan is on our investment strategies page.

How is urban renewal taxed in Israel?

Three taxes matter: purchase tax when you buy, the betterment levy described above, and capital gains tax when you sell. For an additional dwelling, and a residential purchase by someone other than an Israeli-resident individual, the current purchase-tax schedule is 8% on the portion up to ILS 6,055,070 and 10% above it. The Tax Authority notice of 12 October 2026 extends this schedule through 2027-02-10 inclusive. Eligibility for relief must be assessed separately; no later rate is assumed.

For an eligible Israeli-resident individual buying a sole dwelling, Tax Authority instruction 1/2026 sets a zero-rate band up to ILS 1,978,745. The following marginal rates are 3.5%, 5%, 8% and 10%. These thresholds cover 2025-01-16 to 2028-01-15. Buyer classification, family ownership and replacement-home conditions require individual assessment.

When you later sell the new apartment, capital gains tax applies: mas shevach at the individual rate, explained on our mas shevach guide. Wider tax rules sit on our Israel real estate tax page.

Reliefs for existing owners

Owners who swap an old flat for a new one in a renewal deal can, under conditions, be exempt from land appreciation tax (mas shevach) on the deal and from purchase tax on the replacement flat, and the developer’s construction services to the owners are zero-rated for VAT, according to the Authority’s renewal glossary. How many flats one owner can claim the exemption on depends on the track:

The last row matters to an investor who holds two flats in the same TAMA 38/2 building. Owners who return to a new replacement flat in a Pinui Binui project also get a time-limited, graduated arnona (municipal tax) discount on the area added compared with their old flat. Have a tax adviser confirm which reliefs apply to your deal before you sign.

The exemption is not automatic; it is claimed when the deal is reported. An owner’s deal with the developer is a sale of rights for land tax, so a declaration goes to the Tax Authority within 30 days of the sale. In Pinui Binui the owner chooses the exemption track under Chapter Five 4 of the Land Taxation Law on Form 4922, attached to that declaration, and the Tax Authority then accepts the self-assessment or makes its own assessment. In TAMA 38 the seller and the developer can ask for the sale day to be deferred under section 49LB1, so ask the project lawyer when your declaration falls due. The conditions differ for TAMA 38/1, TAMA 38/2 and Pinui Binui; our guide to tax exemptions for owners in TAMA 38 and Pinui Binui deals sets them out track by track.

How long does a project take and what can go wrong?

A project takes many years and a large share never reaches a permit. The main risks are time, dead deals and a developer who cannot deliver. Your money can sit in an old apartment for a decade while you wait, and in the worst case the project collapses and you are left owning exactly what you bought: an old unit. Pinui Binui is often more than a decade from first signature to keys, with no fixed timetable; permitted TAMA 38 projects take several years.

The common failure points are these:

• Not enough owners sign.
• The planning committee rejects or shrinks the plan.
• The developer runs out of money.
• Construction costs spike.
• A holdout fights in court.
• Building stalls even after a permit.
• Neighbours fall out, or older residents do not want to move, and negotiations drag on.
• A small developer with one or two projects plans slowly and lacks the money to absorb delays; at worst it fails and leaves a demolished or half-demolished building.
• Neighbours’ objections and a slow municipality hold up the permit.

Treat any promised “move-in date” as the earliest possible date, not a likely one. The red flags and the full checklist are on the buyer risk check page.

Some large plans now have a faster planning route. The Planning Administration and the Authority set up an accelerated track (המסלול המואץ, ha-maslul ha-muatz) for detailed renewal plans that a district committee approves; the guide was published on 28 July 2026 and updated on 23 September 2026. The local committee, the district committee and the developer work on the plan together, with both committees handling it in parallel, to a pre-set timetable of up to 18 months from launch until the plan takes effect. To enter, a plan must propose at least 250 homes in Pinui Binui, include buildings that need strengthening under section 70A of the Planning and Building Law, have a decision of the local authority or the Authority to advance it in this track, and be submitted for the local committee’s recommendation and district intake at the same time. The developer must also bring a full, experienced planning team and commit to the timetable. The timetable is a target for plan approval only; permits and construction come after it, so it is not a promise of keys.

Neighbourhoods where renewal stalls

Some areas stay old for reasons no single building can fix. The first is money: renewal is paid for with the extra flats, so where land values are low the developer’s numbers do not work. Madlan’s review of price rises from 2010 to 2020 gave Neighbourhood D (Shechuna Dalet) in Be’er Sheva as an example: steady student and investor demand, but land values too low for developers to profit from renewal or new building, so the area stayed old and run down.

The second is ownership. In musha’a (מושע, joint ownership) the land belongs to several partners together, each holding a share of the whole property with no defined, specific part of it, as the Authority’s renewal glossary explains. A Madlan review of investment neighbourhoods, using 2020 prices, said most of the land in HaTikva, in east Tel Aviv, is held this way, which makes deals very hard to close and renewal projects hard to advance; the municipality was then working on solutions. Ask early for the Land Registry extract (nesach Tabu) to see how the plot is registered.

The third is old disputes. Madlan’s neighbourhood reviews of Kfar Shalem, in south-east Tel Aviv, describe parts with a lot of illegal construction, and shacks in its north-east that have stayed for decades because the compensation for clearing them is disputed. Where a block has either problem, treat any renewal timetable with extra caution.

What needs a lawyer or an appraiser?

Get these in writing from a licensed professional before you sign anything or pay a deposit:

• A lawyer to read the owner-developer agreement and confirm the bank guarantee on your payments.
• A lawyer to check the rights register and the real stage from the permit or committee decision.
• A tax adviser to work out purchase tax, the betterment levy and capital gains for your buyer status.
• An appraiser to value the unit at its actual stage, because the local comparable value drives every price in this topic.

Checking a developer’s Pinui Binui proposal

If owners are unsure whether a proposed Pinui Binui deal is economically worthwhile, the Urban Renewal Authority has a process to request an appointed appraiser. The appraiser assesses the proposed deal. Ask the owners’ lawyer and the Authority to check the current eligibility rules and application documents for your project. You can also ask to see any appraisals the developer has prepared and seek separate advice; do not assume the developer must fund a separate private appraiser.

The Authority’s questions and answers give the detail. Owners can ask the Authority to appoint a Pinui Binui appraiser when a qualified majority wants the deal: at least 67% of the owners in the cluster (the building or buildings to be cleared), whose flats carry at least the same share of the common property, and, in each building, more than half the flats agreeing with more than half the common property attached to them. This is a separate test from the two-thirds rule for a refusing owner. The superintendent of joint houses can also ask for an appraiser after a TAMA 38 claim is filed. The appraiser decides whether the developer’s offer is economically worthwhile for the owners and, if not, what would make it so. The opinion is prima facie evidence if a refusing-owner case reaches court, and the developer pays the appraiser’s fee at the rate set in regulations. If the offer simply looks low, the Authority suggests negotiating, asking to see the developer’s appraisals, asking the developer to fund an independent appraiser for the owners (it does not have to), or approaching another developer. Where the municipality and the planning bodies have fixed the consideration they assume when setting building rights, a developer is unlikely to offer more than that.

Which tool or office do you use?

For the stage, ask the local municipality or planning committee for the permit or committee decision and the municipality for the programme track. For purchase tax, use the Tax Authority figures cited above and the Kol-Zchut purchase tax (Mas Rechisha) page as a plain-language check. Our own pages cover each programme and angle, and the next section lists local projects.

For an early check on your own building, go to the municipal urban renewal administration, which the Authority describes as its arm inside the local authority, or to the municipality’s engineering department where your town has none. Each city sets its renewal policy in plans and policy documents, and some have specific renewal plans that say where Pinui Binui or TAMA 38 may go ahead. The Pinui Binui projects advancing in each city are on the Authority’s dynamic map and its list of compounds. If you think your building is unsafe, maintenance is the owners’ responsibility: the municipality inspects a building suspected to be dangerous, its engineering department may issue a dangerous-building order that obliges the owners to fix the defects, and the state does not start a renewal project because a building feels unsafe.

Projects by city

These pages follow named renewal projects. Read them for the local detail, not for the figures on this page.

For a wider view, our tracker of urban renewal projects by city lists named plans across Israel with the homes there now, the homes planned, the building heights and each plan’s stage.

• Har Nof Pinui Binui project in Jerusalem: what it marks for urban renewal.
• Avisror urban renewal project in Ashdod: the skyline transformation.
• Kiryat Eliezer urban renewal project in Haifa: the vertical leap.
• Hatzor HaGlilit urban renewal plan: renewal in the north.
• Yoseftal urban renewal plan in Kfar Saba: what owners and buyers should know.
• Urban renewal apartments in Petah Tikva: buying before transit areas reprice.
• Cash-flow apartments in Lod: with urban renewal upside.

Frequently asked questions

What are the risks of buying urban-renewal apartments in Israel?

The main risks are delay, a project that never reaches a permit, and a developer who cannot deliver. Verify the real stage, the signed-owner percentage and the bank guarantee, and treat any promised completion date as optimistic.

Is TAMA 38 available after the 2022 cutoff?

The current route must be checked with the local planning committee for the site and application date. A historical national-plan label or cutoff quoted in an old article does not establish the current approval position.

What is the difference between TAMA 38/1 and 38/2?

TAMA 38/1 keeps the building and strengthens it, usually adding an elevator, safe rooms and extra floors the developer sells. TAMA 38/2 demolishes the single building and rebuilds it new, so owners move out and return to a new apartment.

How many owners must agree for Pinui Binui?

The qualified-majority rules combine cluster-wide, building-level and common-property requirements, with special cases. A lawyer must check the exact project and any unreasonable-refusal proceedings; a percentage alone does not automatically authorise eviction or compel a sale.

Is Pinui Binui a safe investment for overseas buyers?

It can be a sound long hold, but it is not safe by default. Price for the stage you are at, expect tax and financing limits as a foreign buyer, and confirm both with a licensed Israeli tax lawyer and a mortgage adviser before committing.

How should I price an apartment in a renewal project?

Price by the project’s stage. A rumour is worth little; a permitted, pre-evacuation unit is worth far more but delivery, financing, construction and market risks remain. Never pay finished-building money for an early-stage deal.

Sources

• Times of Israel: urban renewal provisions extended
• Works in Progress: Israel renewal and the two-thirds consent rule
• Kol-Zchut: purchase tax (Mas Rechisha) bands
• Betterment tax (Hetel Hashbacha) guide
• Bank of Israel: loan-to-value limits
• CBS: construction begun and completed
• Ynetnews: foreign-buyer share of investment apartments
• Planning Administration: glossary of planning and building terms (updated 22 Oct 2026)
• Government Authority for Urban Renewal: questions and answers
• Government Authority for Urban Renewal: renewal glossary
• Government Authority for Urban Renewal: guide to the War-Damage Rehabilitation through Urban Renewal Law, 2026 (updated 22 Oct 2026)
• gov.il: areas declared for war-damage rehabilitation (updated 8 Sep 2026)
• Main laws: the Planning and Building Law, 1965; the Pinui Binui (Encouragement of Pinui Binui Projects) Law, 2006; the Government Authority for Urban Renewal Law, 2016; the Land Law (Strengthening Joint Houses against Earthquakes), 2008; the Urban Renewal (Agreements for Organizing Transactions) Law, 2017; and the War-Damage Rehabilitation through Urban Renewal Law, 2026.

Related pages

• TAMA 38 in Israel: 38/1 vs 38/2 Explained
• Pinui Binui in Israel: How It Works
• Pricing an Israel Renewal Deal by Stage
• Do TAMA 38 and Pinui Binui Raise Value? (related guide)
• TAMA 38 and Pinui Binui Risks and Delays

Next step: decide your track and stage tolerance first, then have a lawyer confirm the paperwork before any deposit. If you want help reading a specific renewal deal, talk to the Semerenko Group team.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm with a licensed professional.

Read the renewal stage, not just the project name

The Government Authority for Urban Renewal register distinguishes declaration, proposed homes, plan references, permit-related figures and implementation. These fields must not be collapsed into “approved and building.” Our retained source snapshot is dated 15 August 2026 and was checked in October; the examples below are not a complete city inventory or an inspection.

• Beit Shemesh, HaGefen: plan 102-1184498 is labelled initial planning in that snapshot.
• Beit Shemesh, Bialik: plan 102-0081398 is labelled an approved plan in implementation.
• Jerusalem, Aparsimon: plan 101-0403428 is labelled approved before implementation.

Check the exact building’s permit file as well as the plan. The building-permit guide explains why a plan approval and a building permit are not interchangeable. Your owner agreement must specify replacement accommodation, temporary rent, guarantees and costs. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm with a licensed professional.

Source review: 20 October 2026. Dataset reference dates are stated separately; a source review is not a property inspection.