Evolution In Europe; Gorbachev Issues Housing Law
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President Mikhail S. Gorbachev called today for the legalization of private ownership of residential lots in an attempt to solve the nation’s critical shortage of housing, the press agency Tass said. President Mikhail S. Gorbachev called today for the legalization of private ownership of residential lots in an attempt to solve the nation’s critical shortage of housing, the press agency Tass said. All Soviet land is now owned by the state, under one of the strongest tenets of Communism. Even a recent change legalizing some kinds of private property excluded ownership of land. Tass said Mr. Gorbachev ordered the Government to come up with a housing plan by Sept. 1 that ”removes the whole number of restrictions on building individual housing in the Soviet Union, grants the right to own and inherit housing and the plots on which it is built.” In a presidential decree, Mr. Gorbachev called for at least 30 million new apartments and individual houses by the year 2000. Few details of the housing and ownership initiative were provided today, nor was the text of Mr. Gorbachev’s decree made available. Since last year, Soviet citizens have been allowed to own their own apartments, but there has been little interest in buying because of extensive restrictions placed on sales and purchases. Source : query.nytimes.com |