The Tenants' Association of Montenegro launches the "Right to Home 2035" initiative

The Association of Tenants of Montenegro is launching a public civic initiative "Right to Home 2035", with the aim, as they state, of opening a serious social debate about the future of housing in Montenegro for the first time and creating a long-term vision of housing policy aligned with the needs of citizens and European practices.

"For years, we have been warning about rising real estate prices, rising rents, and the increasingly difficult position of tenants, young people, and families who cannot solve their housing issues. Today, it is more than obvious that housing is becoming one of the key social and development issues in Montenegro," they said.

This association indicates that the great interest of citizens in various housing programs has shown that the problem is not individual, but systemic.

"Thousands of citizens are looking for a way to find a safe home, which clearly indicates that it is time for a serious national debate on housing. That is why we are launching the 'Right to Home 2035' initiative, through which we want to bring together citizens, experts, representatives of institutions, local governments, the civil sector and all interested social actors in order to work together to create sustainable solutions for the next decade," they said.

They add that the goal of the initiative is to create the document "Right to Home 2035", which will contain specific proposals for measures in the areas of:

• affordable housing;
• social housing;
• protection of tenants;
• support for young families;
• development of public housing funds;
• improving the quality of life of citizens

"While the European Union is increasingly investing in affordable and social housing, Montenegro must begin to develop its own model that will provide citizens with greater security and accessibility to housing. Housing is not a privilege. Housing is not a luxury. Housing is a basic prerequisite for a dignified life, family development and the retention of young people in Montenegro," they said.

The association invites all citizens, experts and socially responsible individuals to join this initiative and contribute to the creation of a vision that will "help Montenegro become a country where work can provide a safe home and plan for the future."

"If we want a European standard of living, then we must also open a European conversation about housing. It is time for the right to a home to become a topic of national importance," they conclude.