Starting in July, Riga will begin charging rent for municipal apartments. Until now, such "wall fees"—specifically for renting housing owned by the municipality—had not been collected.
The municipality owns about 6,300 apartments that are rented out to assist with housing issues, as well as 3,500 apartments whose residents had the opportunity to purchase them, as historically they were not rented out as part of assistance.
However, new mandatory rules were supported at the Riga City Council meeting, which will regulate the rental procedure for municipal apartments.
On average, the rental fee, depending on the universal cadastral value and area of the apartment, is projected to be between 15 and 85 euros per month.
Tenants of social housing will receive a discount on this part of the rent, and they will also be provided with support amounting to 50% of heating payments.
Starting from July 2026, tenants will have to pay 2.5% of the universal cadastral value per year for the use of apartments that are municipally owned.
