The increase in the VAT rate on property purchases has led to a sharp drop in housing sales, the treasurer of the National Chamber of Property Developers and president of the Sousse regional chamber, Hachemi Meliani, told Mosaïque FM on Friday.
Meliani stressed that the right to decent housing is a constitutional right, adding that the application of the 13% VAT rate on the acquisition of property since 2018 has led to a 55% drop in housing sales.
He pointed out that in 2010, the construction of a two-room house in medium-sized areas cost around 110,000 dinars and was sold for 140,000 dinars.
Today, the same house costs 240,000 dinars to build and sells for 400,000 dinars, due to a significant increase in VAT rates.
Meliani has proposed reducing VAT on property purchases to 7% and reintroducing the hire-purchase contract, which allows the tenant to become the owner after 20 years.
It should be noted that the draft finance law for 2025 provides for an increase in the VAT rate on property purchases from 13 % à 19 %.