By 2034, the government plans to form a special fund that will build and manage state-owned apartments, which will have offices in the south, central and northern parts of the country, and to create a register of tenants by municipality, in order to regulate the gray market in renting out apartments.
It is also planned to introduce subsidies for renting empty apartments for social housing, so that their owners will receive reductions or exemptions from income tax, profit, VAT... According to the calculation obtained on the basis of data from the Population Census, there are 170.000 such apartments in the country. The intention is to introduce repressive measures to the owners of these apartments if they do not want to rent them, but it is not stated what those measures would be. The adoption of the Law on Renting Apartments is also planned, professionalizing the job of a building manager who must have a license....
These are some of the steps presented in the draft of the Housing Policy Strategy until 2034, which the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, led by Minister Slaven Radunović, put up for public discussion until December 24. Along with this document, the action plan for the next year is under discussion.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe will conduct a feasibility study on a new social housing rental program that will be financed by the Council of Europe's Development Bank.
The main goal of the Government's ten-year strategy is to provide affordable housing for individuals or households, which for social, economic and other reasons cannot solve the housing issue. Affordable housing means renting an apartment at a price below the market price, and it is allocated according to special rules or it is possible to buy an apartment at more favorable prices.
As it is written in the government document, private individuals do not build apartments to solve citizens' housing issues, so the western system can be applied, i.e. to provide a sufficient number of apartments in the public sector for lease.
This Strategy has four main goals: improving regulatory conditions for housing, improving quality, increasing the availability of affordable housing and establishing a better rental policy.
"One of the challenges faced by Montenegro is the absence of a special authority for the construction, maintenance and management of housing stock at the state level. The idea is that such an institution, as an umbrella and central in this area, manages the fund, generates all revenues and distributes them for the maintenance of existing and the construction of new state-owned apartments. This goal is related to the improvement of the legislative framework, since all activities related to the formation of authorities are preceded by the creation of legal conditions. The final goal that is being achieved during the duration of this strategic document is the official establishment of this body with the formation of three regional centers at the northern, central and southern levels", the document reads.
The model of the European Union
The recommendation of all institutions at the level of the European Union is, as stated in the Strategy, to create and develop the rental sector in order to solve housing issues for the young, socially vulnerable and others. As he writes, private individuals do not build apartments because of the solution of citizens' housing issues, so the western system can be applied, that is, the provision of a sufficient number of apartments in the public sector is done through leases.
Data from the census of population, households and apartments from 2023 show that there are about 170.000 empty apartments on the territory of Montenegro, so it is proposed that due to the lack of affordable apartments for rent, all available apartments should be rented out. It is emphasized that the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe will conduct a feasibility study on the new social housing rental program for this purpose, and that it will be financed by the Development Bank of the Council of Europe.
"Also, due to the lack of affordable apartments on the rental market, work will be done on the introduction of both incentive measures and repressive measures, that is, on the introduction of incentive measures for renting unused apartments in the sense of reducing or exempting income tax, profit, VAT... for the owners of unused apartments and the introduction of financial burdens for the owners of unused (empty) apartments, who do not want to rent them or rent them illegally", the Strategy reads.
According to reports, the maintenance of residential buildings is poor and its management is not efficient enough, so even citizens are not aware of their rights and obligations. That is why, in addition to raising awareness and amending the regulations, it is planned to introduce a professional manager for the residential building. The goal is to leave the management to a person or company that will be licensed for management tasks, in order to provide greater efficiency and greater security. The Strategy also states that the capacities of inspectors for housing and education should be strengthened, given that they monitor the implementation of the law.
In addition, it is planned to create a database of subtenants by municipality, in order to regulate the gray market in renting out apartments. It is also stated that the data from the census will be analyzed, because the Directorate of Statistics has not published all the data by municipality, that is, how many tenants there are, what their age and level of education are, and what is the average number of members in families. It is planned that these data will be included in the Strategy, before being published in the first three months of 2025.
Greater energy efficiency
The strategy plans to reduce high costs for electricity and other taxes, through greater energy efficiency of homes. It is stated that the lack of energy efficiency and high costs directly affect the occurrence of energy poverty.
"In 2025, the Ministry of Energy plans to start the preparation of the Study on improving the energy efficiency of buildings, which will represent the Strategy for the long-term renovation of buildings. The aim of the said study is to reduce heating costs and increase comfort in households, through the introduction of financial support that would include the introduction of dedicated state and local subsidy programs for energy saving in private households and the use of renewable energy sources, which would contribute to reducing energy needs, as well as the use of solar energy and modern forms of biomass (pellets, briquettes, wood chips), that is, which would reduce energy poverty. Some of the programs should include interest-free loans for the installation of biomass heating systems, installation of photovoltaic solar systems in remote rural areas, interest-free loans for improving the energy characteristics of buildings and subsidies for the installation of solar systems in new buildings, through the reduction of local utility taxes," he points out. are in this document.
For progress in housing in Montenegro, it is crucial, as stated, to change laws or pass new ones in order to regulate issues that are not determined by existing regulations, but also to resolve difficulties and ambiguities. It is stated that most of the legal obligations apply to municipalities, but that they lack political will and money, while decentralization has proven to be ineffective.
It is emphasized that the Strategy should ensure the social security of households with low incomes, so considering that the state needs to build apartments, a national housing fund must be formed, which will be regulated through the Law on Renting Apartments. In addition, the general Law on the rental of apartments would apply to all leases and increase legal certainty in this sector on the free market, and it can also prescribe a public-private partnership model with incentives for investors, who would build apartments for leasing with concessions and state support.
The Ministry of Urbanism will send reports on the progress of the Strategy to the Government on an annual basis for adoption. In addition, a mid-term evaluation of progress is planned for the last three months of 2029, while the final evaluation will be done in 2034, in order to see what has been achieved.
There are not enough apartments
Adoption of the Strategy was planned after the previous one expired in 2021, but it is written that the plan could not be formulated due to the lack of data from the census, so the process was postponed.
In the analysis of weaknesses and strengths (SWOT) of the housing sector in Montenegro, which is in the document, it is emphasized that it is positive that the legal framework is harmonized with the EU, that there is compliance with domestic and international strategic documents, that there is experience in the field of construction, maintenance and management of these housing funds and the social housing program, which increases the interest of citizens...
"Among the weaknesses are insufficient institutional capacity and inadequate organizational structure for the implementation of the social housing program, insufficient number of apartments owned by the state, incomplete spatial and urban documentation of a lower order, lack of continuous funding, lack of a database on housing needs and opportunities, insufficiently quick updating of the cadastre, inadequate investments in the maintenance and construction of apartments, the absence of an adequate internal migration management policy, mental and cultural patterns of owning an apartment as an obstacle to other models of adequate housing sponsored by the state", he points out. are among the weaknesses of the domestic housing sector.
The field of social housing in Montenegro is regulated by the Law on Social Housing, so citizens who do not have an apartment or other housing facility, that is, those whose apartment is not of the appropriate standard and who cannot provide it for themselves, can exercise this right. According to the document, priority in these cases is given to single parents, people with disabilities, citizens over 67 years of age, young people who were children without parental care, families with children with disabilities, members of Roma and Egyptians, displaced persons, internally displaced persons with Kosova who reside in Montenegro...
72 percent of the old plan was complied with
The national housing strategy for the period from 2011 to 2020 was implemented at the level of 72 percent, compared to the plans.
That strategy had three goals, increasing the availability of apartments for households that cannot meet their needs on the market, supporting the development of the rental sector and improving the management and maintenance system of the housing stock.
"The strategy did not contribute to supporting the development of the rental sector, especially since the number of state-owned apartments for rent did not increase during the period of validity of the document, that is why this priority goal is also provided for in this strategic document. Based on the comprehensive analysis, the degree of implementation was 72 percent", the new Strategy states.
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