site.btaSofia Considers European Affordable Housing Plan Important for Boosting Homes Supply

Bulgaria believes that the European Affordable Housing Plan proposes important measures for increasing the supply of housing and for mobilizing investment in the building stock, the country's outgoing Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Ivan Ivanov, said on Tuesday during an informal video conference of EU ministers responsible for housing policy. At the conference, the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jorgensen, presented the European Affordable Housing Plan, Ivanov's ministry reported.

Ivanov called for greater clarity, in the next stages, on the practical implementation of the Plan and on the role of the next Multiannual Financial Framework in supporting investment in social and affordable housing.

He insisted on additional information about ensuring complementarity between future instruments under the Multiannual Financial Framework, cohesion policy funding and the financial mechanisms involving the European Investment Bank. In his view, there must be clarity on whether the application of the EU housing construction strategy will provide sufficient flexibility for the member states, taking into account national and regional specificities.

The Bulgarian minister gave a positive assessment of the European Commission’s new coordinating role on affordable housing and of its ambition to establish this policy as a shared European objective. However, he emphasized that the management and direction of additional public and private investment through financial instruments and institutions at European Union level should be delegated to the member states, for which housing policy is an area of exclusive competence. According to him, housing policy is, at its core, highly national, with clearly defined social, economic and regional characteristics and dimensions, and Bulgaria remains ready to participate constructively in further discussions.

Ivanov noted that accelerating construction and encouraging energy-efficient, high-quality building are essential, particularly for vulnerable groups and for middle-income households, which are increasingly struggling to secure adequate housing.