Housing review 2013 Europe, Middle East and Africa on 23 countries in the Europe and Central Asia region 3 Housing review on 23 countries in the Europe and Central Asia region 5 Central and Eastern Europe countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia 7 Southeastern Europe countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia 9 Commonwealth of Independent States countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan Other Europe and Central Asia countries: Georgia, Turkey August 2013 Dr. Wolfgang Amann IIBW – Institute for Real Estate, Construction and Housing Ltd. Institut für Immobilien, Bauen und Wohnen GmbH Postfach 2, A 1020 Vienna, Austria FN 193068 z Handelsgericht Wien Tel. +43-1-968-6008 Email [email protected] www.iibw.at Prepared for: Europe, Middle East and Africa 5 FOREWORD Europe is often thought of as having more developed housing than This housing study focuses on Europe and Central Asia — that is, many other parts of the world. Recently, however, with the ongoing roughly, the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe, economic crisis, international attention has focused on several Southeastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent types of housing poverty that have spread throughout Europe and States nations. Our purpose is to analyse the housing situation Central Asia. across the region and identify the scale of existing problems. What are the most common housing problems in this region? Within the current review, we have put much more emphasis on First of all, the rising prices of housing and utilities; housing- systemic housing issues rather than a detailed analysis of poverty related expenditures make up the biggest component of consumer housing conditions and causes. However, this does not mean that spending in the European Union. According to Eurostat, housing we close our eyes to the problems faced by vulnerable groups in accounted for 23 percent of total expenditures in 2011. For Europe and Central Asia, such as Roma, elderly people, young and 12 percent of the population, housing accounts for 40 percent single-headed families and people with disabilities. This work only of expenditures. In Central and Eastern Europe, previous reviews the housing sector and major problems faced in the region. construction and heating methods did not focus on energy efficiency. As a result, families now pay more for energy, and many In the poorer areas of Europe and Central Asia, a legacy of chronic live in energy poverty. Every 10th person in the EU lives in a underinvestment in housing has resulted in a severely inadequate household that was unable to pay utility bills in 2010, according to housing stock. At the heart of the huge social problems facing the the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. region lies a ticking time bomb of inadequate shelter. Second, the affordability of housing itself is a rising problem. The Only by analysing the situation and talking about the need for share of social rental housing in the EU is on average 11 percent. decent and affordable homes out loud can we start making progress In the new members of the EU and in the countries of the former to rid the region of poverty housing. Soviet Union, the share of social housing dropped to 3 to 5 percent after the transition to a free market economy in the 1990s. The constant reduction of public housing has resulted in long waiting Greg Foster lists, keeping a large number of people in inadequate housing conditions. Area Vice President Europe, Middle East and Africa At the same time, mass privatization of housing in Eastern Europe Habitat for Humanity International has created a whole class of “poor owners” who are hardly in a position to take over responsibility for their property. These poor owners are mainly responsible for the ineffectiveness of condominium management, as they are not able to contribute to the maintenance and repair of the buildings. 3 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Core team Author: Dr. Wolfgang Amann, Institute for Real Estate, Construction and Housing, Vienna, Austria Coordinator: Katerina Bezgachina, Habitat for Humanity, Europe, Middle East and Africa Editor: Adam Smith, Habitat for Humanity International Design and layout: Barbora Fricova, Habitat for Humanity, Europe, Middle East and Africa Contributors Significant contributions in the collection of data and necessary background information: Behruz Daboboev, program development manager, Habitat for Humanity Tajikistan Branislava Zakrovic, director, Housing Center in Serbia Denitsa Ilieva, communications coordinator, Habitat for Humanity Bulgaria Dr. Dorina Pojani, assistant professor, Epoka University, Tirana, Albania Elena Evteeva, former advocacy officer, Habitat for Humanity Europe, Middle East and Africa Gabriela Grigori, director for resource development and communications, Habitat for Humanity Romania Galina Strachkova, former PR and advocacy specialist, Habitat for Humanity Macedonia Lea Kőszeghy, advocacy officer, Habitat for Humanity Hungary Magda Ruszkowska-Cieslak, former advocacy manager, Habitat for Humanity Poland Mincho Benov, national director, Habitat for Humanity Bulgaria Nargiza Kydykova, resource development manager, Habitat for Humanity Kyrgyzstan Nargiz Rahmonova, Ph.D. researcher, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia Samira Sharifkhodjaeva, national director, Habitat for Humanity Tajikistan Staff from LOK Microfinance, Bosnia and Herzegovina Staff from Hope Ukraine Siranush Vardanyan, former program development manager, Habitat for Humanity Armenia Additional contributiuons in the analysis and review of data and collected information: Ellen Hamilton, lead urban specialist, Urban Development and Resilience Unit, The World Bank Gyorgy Sumeghy, advocacy manager, Habitat for Humanity Europe, Middle East and Africa Lucija Popovska, director of programs, Habitat for Humanity Europe, Middle East and Africa Sandra Callison, associate director, Habitat for Humanity International, Center for Innovation in Shelter and Finance 7 CONTENTS A. OVERVIEW AND KEY FINDINGS ................................................................................................9 B. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ................................................................................................12 B.1 Demographic background ................................................................................................12 B.2 Economic background ................................................................................................14 C. HOUSING STOCK AND HOUSING PROVISION ................................................................................................21 C.1 Housing stock ................................................................................................21 C.2 Housing tenure ................................................................................................26 C.3 Housing costs ................................................................................................30 C.4 Housing maintenance and services ................................................................................................32 C.5 Housing legislation ................................................................................................35 C.6 Housing vulnerability ................................................................................................38 C.7 Environmental and planning issues ................................................................................................42 C.8 Institutional setting ................................................................................................42 D. HOUSING CONSTRUCTION, MARKETS, HOUSING FINANCE ................................................................................................45 D.1 Housing construction ................................................................................................45 D.2 Social housing construction ................................................................................................49 D.3 Housing markets ................................................................................................50 D.4 Housing finance ................................................................................................51 E. HOUSING POLICY ................................................................................................55 E.1 United Nations strategic documents ................................................................................................55 E.2 Impact of EU housing policy ................................................................................................55 E.3 Housing policy targets ................................................................................................56 F. ANNEX ................................................................................................66 F.1 HFH/IIBW Housing Survey ECA Region 2012 ................................................................................................66 F.2 References ................................................................................................67 F.3 List of figures ................................................................................................71 5 8 ABBREVIATIONS CEE Central and Eastern Europe CIS Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet Union) CPI Consumer Price Index ECA Europe and Central Asia EU 27 European Union (in