Title page
Contents
Abstract 4
Résumé 4
Households struggle with housing affordability and quality 8
Boosting housing market efficiency 12
Enhancing housing inclusiveness 30
Improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock 40
References 50
Table 1. There is room to simplify the building permit procedure 17
Table 2. Regulation of tenant-landlord relations in selected OECD countries 22
Table 3. Policy recommendations for addressing housing market challenges 49
Figure 1. House prices increased substantially until recently 8
Figure 2. House prices have increased faster than incomes until 2022 9
Figure 3. Homeownership is negatively correlated with residential mobility 9
Figure 4. Regional differences in housing affordability are high 10
Figure 5. Many young adults live with their parents and overcrowding is common 10
Figure 6. Electricity and gas bills account for a high share of housing-related expenditure 11
Figure 7. The housing stock is old and energy inefficient 12
Figure 8. Housing demand pressures have been strong 13
Figure 9. Housing supply is low 14
Figure 10. Per capita residential construction permits lag behind other EU countries 15
Figure 11. Taxes are lower for owner occupied property 24
Figure 12. Revenues from recurrent taxes on immovable property are low 26
Figure 13. Revenues from recurrent property taxes have not kept up with the increases in house prices 27
Figure 14. The share of vacant dwellings is relatively high 28
Figure 15. Many low-income households live in inadequate housing 31
Figure 16. Some regions and population groups suffer more from poor living conditions 31
Figure 17. The stock of social rental housing is low 32
Figure 18. State support for social rental housing is low and has decreased over time 33
Figure 19. Sources of funding for the State Housing Development Fund 34
Figure 20. Housing allowances are low and accessible to only few households 36
Figure 21. Many Roma live in precarious conditions with limited access to basic infrastructure 38
Figure 22. Residential heating is the major cause of air pollution 41
Figure 23. Residential heating by gas and solid fuels explains higher direct CO₂ emissions 42
Figure 24. Effective carbon tax rates in the building sector are low 43
Figure 25. The number of refurbished dwellings with the support of SHDF loans is decreasing 46
Boxes
Box 1. Digitalisation of building permits in Croatia and Estonia 19
Box 2. Reform to rebalance tenant-landlord relations and incentivise formalisation of the private rental market in Latvia 21
Box 3. A successful example of property tax administration in the Netherlands 29
Box 4. Property tax reforms in Denmark and Ireland 30
Box 5. The State Housing Development Fund: a valuable instrument for the development of social rental housing and housing renovations 34
Box 6. Legalisation of property rights in the municipality of Raslavice (Prešov region) 38
Box 7. Coordination between central and local government in fighting homelessness in Denmark 40
Box 8. Decarbonising the building sector through district heating 45
Box 9. Increasing efficiency of deep residential renovations: the More-Connect pilots in Estonia and Latvia 48