A. Armonaitė: Making it easier for people to buy their first home
Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė says it is time to solve the problems of accessibility and affordability of housing in Lithuania. A long-term strategy is needed to increase the supply of quality and more affordable housing, and one way to do this is to cut red tape.
"We need a sustainable and socially just housing affordability policy. Home ownership is an important issue for everyone, especially for young people and families. I believe we need a long-term strategy to improve housing affordability, which clearly sets out new financial instruments to help borrowers save for a deposit or make borrowing easier.
Equally important is a clear and business-friendly regulatory environment and predictable business conditions. At present, developers point out that house prices have been significantly affected by the bureaucratic process, which has become more complex. But we can change that. Clarity, consistency and compatibility between the various regulatory institutions are very important," A. Armonaitė said after a meeting with representatives of the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association (LNTPA) and the Lithuanian Banks Association (LBA).
According to the survey conducted by the LNTPA, 48 out of 70 respondents living in rented accommodation do not plan to buy their own home in the next two years because they will not be able to save the down payment needed to buy a house.
"62% of tenants surveyed in Vilnius identified the lack of a down payment as the biggest obstacle to buying a home. According to LNTPA calculations, it takes 8.8 years to buy an average house in Vilnius with an average salary - if we could speed up the procedures for issuing building permits, it would be possible to reduce the price of housing by up to 5.4% in some cases", - says A. Armonaitė.
According to the Minister, when addressing the issues of housing availability and affordability, it is important to pay attention to increasing the number of quality housing units not only in Lithuania's major cities, but also in the regions. The role of municipalities is also very important. "Renovation could also contribute to a sustainable housing affordability and accessibility policy - after all, renovated blocks of flats could increase the supply of higher quality, more sustainable housing, contribute to greening and be cheaper to maintain. I believe that renovation would also significantly improve the quality of life of older people.
That is why my strategy must also include a clearer role for local authorities - how they could further accelerate renovation processes, what they could do in addition to planning for the development of settlements, or what financial means they could use to help people," the Minister said.