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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 20:56

Estonian EcoMin promotes state-supported rental apartments programme

BC, Tallinn, 12.11.2014.Print version
Estonian Economy and Infrastructure Minister Urve Palo, who has been recently promoting a state subsidised rental apartments programme, said that the money spent on building such rental apartments will come back as additional tax revenues and will keep quite a few families from leaving Estonia to live in Finland, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

Palo said that participants of a wide-based round table meeting in the ministry on November 4 decided that the state-supported rental housing programme must be included in the forthcoming Energy Sector Development Plan 2030. The minister said all the parties agreed that publicly supported rental homes are needed in Estonia.

 

Palo said in public television ETV's morning news programme on Wednesday that public rental housing is needed because three times more housing depreciates in Estonia than is built.

 

"Because, in Estonia the housing market is outdated, and the state has not seen any role in its development in 20 years. Today the situation is such that 2,000 new homes are built in Estonia a year, but 6,000 depreciate. The gap is 4,000. There should be demand, but they [new housing] don’t emerge. People do not have the resources for that," said the minister.

 

Palo said that it is one thing, but the other side is that the scientists believe that the state should intervene much more actively in housing policy: among other things, support the renovation of old houses and building apartment building to rent.

 

Palo said that the situation differs in municipalities: while in Tallinn and Tartu, the problem is very high cost of decent housing, in rural areas and provincial towns, as a rule, however, no apartments in a normal condition are offered for rent at all. Consequently, it inhibits the mobility of people. Specialists do not move to Haapsalu, or Muhu Island because they have nowhere to live.

 

Palo emphasized that Estonia does not support rental housing, but in the rest of the world, such as Finland, it is normal. Spending comes back as additional tax revenues.

 

"I claim that every family whose decision is to not go from here to Finland or Sweden, that they can manage here – they can have more money in the hands after payment of housing costs, and they have a modern apartment – then this is a great thing for the Estonian state," she said.

 

Palo stressed that municipalities have the leading role in the plans as they have to show how getting state support for building rental housing would develop the economy and local environment.






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