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Vidzemē akūts dzīvojamā fonda trūkums

Acute shortage of housing in Vidzeme, Latvia

One of the problems facing several cities in Vidzeme for a long time now is an insufficient housing stock. Currently, demand is much higher than supply in many places, and finding a quality and affordable apartment is a major challenge, especially for low-income residents, Latvian Television reported on July 1.

In many places in Vidzeme, the range of rental apartment offers is small and it is difficult to find a decent flat at a reasonable price. In Valmiera, for example, the monthly rent of a two-bedroom apartment is on average between 300 and 400 euros, excluding utilities. There is a similar situation elsewhere in the region. Two-bedroom apartments are in high demand.

"By stats, it's the sort of roughly classic two-bed apartment that has a living room and one bedroom, but one has to understand that real estate is not a fashion trend. It is purchased depending on the needs," explained Aigars Smits, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Real Estate Association.

Because it's hard to find apartments in cities in Vidzeme, lower-income families need to look elsewhere for them. This situation is also seen in municipalities.

"We've heard a lot of things that we can't always afford that price and we're looking for some other solution, so we're also looking in the nearest villages where prices are lower and taking the opportunity to travel to Valmiera every day," admitted Valmiera Municipality Council Chairman Jānis Baiks.

The lack of apartments also has tangible economic consequences – it has a significant impact on the development of Vidzeme cities and municipalities. If there's nowhere to live, it's impossible to find employees.

"We were recently in Priekuļi, at the Institute of Agroresources, it's a scientific institution trying to attract doctoral-level scientists, and unfortunately some scientists have had to lose out because there is no housing stock," said Jānis Rozenbergs, chairman of Cēsis Municipality Council.

"As well as the city, parishes are economically active. As an example, I can cite Mālpils, where several manufacturing facilities have been deployed and one of the companies had 40 jobs vacant, but labor availability was limited by the unavailability of a housing fund," said Ina Stupele, vice-chairwoman of Sigulda municipality.

Efforts to address the housing shortage in Vidzeme are evident and involve municipalities, the private sector, and the state.

"In total, around 100 building permits for the construction of private homes are currently open [..] but they are all private initiatives. For the first time, the LLC "Valmieras namsaimnieks" has applied to the State aid program, where it is possible to obtain a European grant – for the construction of rental apartments. This has been approved and right now we can see construction work in the area is already beginning and the plan is to build 120 apartments for rent," Baiks said.

Housing projects planned for the next few years will not be able to meet the high population demand for residences. More ways will therefore have to be sought to address this problem.

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