A new procedure for charging rent for municipal apartments has been developed in Riga, which stipulates that starting from May next year, the municipality will begin to charge rent for its apartments, which has not been done until now.
As reported by the External Communications Department of the Riga City Council, the municipality has prepared new mandatory regulations that will govern the payment of rent for municipal housing.
According to the explanatory note to the draft mandatory regulations, the average rent, depending on the universal cadastral value of the property and the area of the apartment, is planned to be between 15 and 85 euros per month.
As explained by the municipality, until now, rent for the use of apartments owned by the municipality has not been charged. The Chairwoman of the Housing and Environment Committee of the Riga City Council, Elina Treija, explained that this situation has developed historically: rent was not charged, and previous deputies lacked the "courage to regulate it."
By not charging rent, the municipality does not receive funds that could be used to repair its apartments, and they are gradually falling into disrepair, Treija justifies the changes. "For the municipality, this has been a significant financial burden, and often an unjustified burden," the politician believes.
Furthermore, if initially, for some tenants, it was assessed whether they had the status of a vulnerable person to exempt them from rent, this was not rechecked when extending rental agreements. Unlike other municipalities, the Riga municipality did not deprive housing from those who lost their status as vulnerable individuals and will not do so in the future, notes the politician.
The draft regulations stipulate that for tenants of social housing, rent will not be applied, while a 50% support for heating energy payments will be provided. In the planned rent system, tenants of social housing will pay a management fee, and this approach will not create an additional financial burden for them.
In turn, for the use of other apartments owned by the municipality, starting from May 2026, rent will be calculated at 2.5% of the universal cadastral value of the property per year.
Leave a comment