TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Deputy Minister of Housing and Urban development Qassem Heydari-Nejad said here Sunday that Iran needs to build over one million housing units annually.

"The trend should continue through at least 2010-11," Heydari-Nejad added.

Speaking at a seminar on 'capabilities management’, he said the housing market has annual pent-up demand for 150,000 units and another 650,000 units of new demand.

He added setting up a construction capabilities management center would be useful in drumming up savings and increasing productivity in the sector.

"Also, over 200,000 housing units are renovated every year," Heydari-Nejad added. He said although over 80 percent of housing units are built by the private sector, "there are no effective supervision on building construction."

He also said there is a need to set up a 'Construction Police' to prevent infringements of building codes.

Iran's Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ali Abdolalizadeh said here last month that the plans call for 660,000 housing units to be delivered by the end of the current Iranian year (started March 21).

Abdolalizadeh told reporters that the number of housing units to be constructed by the end of the year is estimated at about 700,000. He said, after presenting a report to President Mohammad Khatami on ceding 20,000 housing units to the public, "he (Khatami) ordered additional 20,000 units to be constructed."

He said the ministry itself has plans for construction of another 20,000 housing units, which will bring the total number to 40,000 to be built in various regions of the country. Abdolalizadeh said to alleviate housing shortage, notably for the youth, and to prevent increase in housing prices, "over one million housing units will be built by the end of the Iranian year of 1385 (ends March 20, 2007)."