The Number of Uninhabited Dwellings in Bulgaria is Growing, Could be Used for Social Housing

Politics » DOMESTIC | June 30, 2018, Saturday // 11:25
Bulgaria: The Number of Uninhabited Dwellings in Bulgaria is Growing, Could be Used for Social Housing

The number of uninhabited housing in Bulgaria is growing. They are 1,220,416 or more than 31 percent of all homes in the country, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) announced.
 
At the same time, more and more people do not have the chance to acquire their own residential property or need support to rent. Therefore, one of the main tasks in housing management in Bulgaria is to find ways to reduce the number of uninhabited dwellings and increase their usability. This is one of the goals set out in the National Housing Strategy, which was uploaded to the MRDPW website for public discussion.

The strategy states that housing is constantly growing. In the period up to 2020, the construction boom from 2007-2009 will be surpassed with the construction of about 20,000 dwellings per year. These forecasts are based on the expected economic growth in the country and the growing investment interest, which is expressed in the search for land and the large number of issued building permits. The number of dwellings exceeds the number of households and housing consumption is comparable to that in the EU (550 dwellings / 1000 inhabitants). But the problem is that financial access to housing is getting worse. The cost / income ratio is rising. In 2015, according to NSI data, the cost of housing exceeds 6.6 times the income. For comparison in 2013 this ratio is 6.3 or the share of people in need of support for the acquisition or rental of housing is increasing.
 
Another problem identified in the strategy is that public housing is reduced to a symbolic share of 2.4 percent. It is difficult to manage because of its dispersion among private condominiums and municipalities have limited resources to maintain it.

The conclusion is that it is necessary to find mechanisms for adapting the existing housing stock and its rational use. One of the ideas is to make tax changes by providing incentives to provide an unoccupied dwelling for social purposes. The purpose of the public discussion of the strategy is to gather ideas and to develop the best mechanism for the benefit of all stakeholders, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works said.


The Strategy also states that over 91 percent of the available housing has a reliable construction - massive reinforced concrete, panel or solid. More than three quarters of the country's apartments are in buildings over 30 years old. The lack of maintenance of these buildings leads to a rapid deterioration of their condition, so there is a strong need for massive renovation of the existing housing stock and increase its usability, says the strategy. Another conclusion is that the share of homeowners who find it difficult to withhold their property under current market conditions is increasing. However, due to the fact that many people have difficulty allocating funds to maintain their homes, it is suggested that they can use low-interest loans or other financial instruments that can be combined with a grant. The amount of aid will also depend on the measures to be financed. It is suggested that support for the improvement of constructive sustainability and energy efficiency be realized only in case the renovation does not involve more than 50% of the value in new construction. In the case of mass, updating by fulfilling all the prescriptions of the technical passport would cover less than 30 percent of the value of new construction.

Active and systematic housing policies need to be clearly defined at the central and local levels. At the central level, a body administering a comprehensive housing subsidy system and implementing a national housing policy is needed. At local level, capacity is needed to create and implement municipal housing programs. This does not exempt the state from responsibilities for social housing and the renewal of the existing fund to meet the commitments to the New Agenda for EU Cities and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, the MRDPW message said.

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