The current First House program could be accessed only by people who earn less than the average net salary and the social homes could be built in a public-private partnership, according to the Development Ministry’s working draft on housing strategy.

The document, which was last updated in April and is still work in progress, will come with a series of measures that are part of the National Housing Strategy, reports local Capital.ro.

Romania is the second poorest country in EU, according to the document, and the housing conditions are the worst in Europe. The country also records one of the fastest population decline rates in the world. Despite this, the number of houses exceeds the number of households. Romania has 8.8 million owners for 7.2 million homes.

However, some 90% of the residential buildings are old and need refurbishing. Moreover, 35% of the 8.8 million homes need urgent repairs.

The document also shows that Romanians live in cramped housing. The average surface of a home is 46.9 sqm. The average living area per person amounts to 20 sqm in Romania whereas the EU average totals 34 sqm.

The Government wants to change the structure of the First House program, and introduce an income-based eligibility criterion. Also, the facility to pay a 5% VAT on the purchase of the first home should not be granted to everybody, but only to people with low income.

editor@romania-insider.com