Press Release

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HOUSING MARKET ALONE CANNOT ACCOMMODATE ALL ROMANIANS

UNECE assesses the housing sector in Romania

Ten years of transition in Romania have not brought about an improvement in average living conditions. In general, Romanians still live in cramped housing and only half have access to piped water. And although the building stock is relatively recent, with half the buildings dating from 1945 to 1970, its general quality is low and deteriorating because of a lack of repair. The quality of rural homes is particularly poor. The average dwelling in Romania is too small. A family of eight is more likely to live in a two-room flat than in a home with four rooms or more. New construction and renovation should therefore focus on larger units.

Overall economic problems have had a negative impact on housing. In an effort to improve the situation, the Government of Romania invited the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to survey the country's housing sector. The UNECE has just published its findings in Country Profiles on the Housing Sector - Romania, the fifth in a series of country reports which examine the trends in the housing sector in countries in transition and put forward recommendations.

The UNECE report points out that the Government of Romania needs to play a very active role in the country's housing delivery. The public authorities have to do their utmost to encourage private investment in housing, but Romania's housing problems are such that the private sector alone will never be able to solve them all, particularly in areas like social housing.

With inflation still above 40 per cent, many Romanians will not be able to satisfy their housing needs without extra financial help. Some of this will have to come from better targeted public subsidies. Social housing has been neglected as a result of the large-scale privatization. However, the report emphasizes that there is a widespread need for social housing given the low incomes of large parts of the population and the growing number of evictions, and in order to provide temporary accommodation to people who lose their homes in natural disasters.

Repairing and renovating the existing stock should be the top priority. There is a need to challenge the mind-set of the new private owner-occupiers, many of whom still feel that it is up to the government to repair and maintain their homes. However, the new owners must be made to understand that they themselves must work to improve their situation. People living in condominiums need to organize themselves in homeowners' associations in order to get the professional management that the upkeep of housing requires.

The UNECE report also mentions several positive developments. A new social housing construction programme was initiated in 2000, with international financing. Another programme is aimed at completing the blocks of flats started by the Government before 1990 but never finished as the State subsequently withdrew from direct housing provision. And there is a programme for the consolidation of especially older buildings that do not meet earthquake safety standards.

Another major positive step is that the central authorities have formulated general principles for a national housing policy and the appropriate guidelines to implement it. This work should be continued in consultation with the numerous organizations that actually build, finance, sell, let, manage, repair or maintain homes in Romania. Many of these organizations have mobilized themselves only recently and are ready to be accepted as social partners by the central authorities in the housing sector.

For further information, please contact:

Christina von SCHWEINICHEN, Deputy Director
UNECE Environment and Human Settlements Division
Palais des Nations, office 340
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Phone: +41(0)22 917 23 88
Fax: +41(0)22 917 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]

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Housing stock, population and household size, 1995-99

	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Population
Romania	22,681	22,607	22,545	22,502	22,458
Bucharest	2,054	2,037	2,027	2,016	2,011
Housing stock
Romania	7,782	7,811	7,837	7,861	7,883
Bucharest	776	778	780	784	788
Household size
Romania	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	2.9
Bucharest	2.8	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.6
Units/1000 people
Romania	343	346	348	349	351
Bucharest	378	382	385	389	392

Source: Romania's National Commission for Statistics.
Housing consumption in selected countries homes per thousand people)