The constant rise in housing prices, not only in our country, but also throughout Europe, in recent years, has once again raised the issue of the fact that the number of people who cannot afford their own home is constantly growing.
Social poverty is a fact and one of the ways to deal with it is for municipalities, respectively the state, to create programs for the construction of affordable housing. There are many mechanisms for implementing these programs - by allocating part of the funds from the municipalities, or by providing investors with plots of land at preferential prices by the municipalities, or by the participation of the municipalities in the construction stage of these affordable housing.
The most recent example of good practice is Zagreb, which a few days ago announced a new affordable housing project. During the current term of office, a complex will be built in the capital's district of “Sveta Klara“, which will include 1,000 apartments. The construction of the first 300 housing units is already underway.
In parallel, the Zagreb municipal authorities have initiated a procedure for adopting a new development plan for the district in question.
“Our housing policy focuses on ensuring fair use of the existing building stock, with the goal of increasing the number of homes“, said Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević.
Building more affordable housing is not only about enabling more people to buy their first home, but also about influencing housing prices on the market as a whole. In recent years, both prices and rents have seen significant growth in Croatia. The reason is low taxation, especially for short-term rentals. As a result, over 600,000 apartments either remained empty or were rented out on a short-term basis.
„The market is moving in an undesirable direction – "Apartments are bought not to solve a housing problem, but to profit from it, and sometimes for speculative purposes," analysts admit.
The goal of programs such as the one for the construction of more affordable housing is to reduce the imbalance in the property market.
Those who use it as their primary residence or rent it out on a long-term basis will not have to pay tax on the home, namely, those who have a contract with one person for renting it out for at least 10 months a year.
Detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by city and neighborhood can be seen HERE