Palestine Economy Portal

The World Bank announced a new grant to improve land registration systems in the West Bank and related services.

In a statement, the Bank said it had approved a $ 5 million grant to improve land registration and property-related services for the Palestinians. The new real estate registration project would also benefit from another $ 4.6 million in grants from the Global Partnership for the Achieving Approach and $ 3 million from the Palestinian Partnership for Infrastructure Development, two multi donor funds.

"Land registration systems are necessary to enhance land tenure security, and property rights are vital to an efficient economy," said Kanthan Shankar, World Bank Manager and Representative in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The new project will contribute to the development of Palestinian real estate markets, business development in a number of sectors including construction, housing and agriculture, and increase access to finance through land use as collateral. This new process will provide investment opportunities that will stimulate job creation and revenue generation for the Palestinian Authority.

The percentage of land registered in the West Bank does not exceed 38%, with a large proportion of unregistered properties in urban areas.

The World Bank considered that the lack of access to land and real estate registered in the Palestinian territories remains one of the biggest constraints to economic growth. Conservative estimates in a World Bank study in 2018 showed that the value of in-kind security for unregistered land in Palestinian-controlled areas ranges from $ 7 billion and 35 billion.

The project aims to rehabilitate the real estate market in the West Bank, contribute to the development of the mortgage market and provide a platform for strengthening private sector activities. The project will directly support the ongoing efforts of the Palestinian Authority to register real estate and automate real estate related services.

Rafif Abdelrazeq, the Urban Development Specialist at the World Bank said "The open and transparent access to land and real estate to protect the rights of women and the most favored groups will be the focus of the project. The project specifically targets women in registration procedures to raise awareness of their rights to own property and to produce data disaggregated by type, Gender for follow-up. The project will have a direct impact on the security of tenure of Palestinian women, as well as additional potential sources of income and economic opportunities. "