A look back at the first day of the HOUSING 2023 conference / Day

Normunds Audzišs, Executive Director of the Association of Large Cities of Latvia, Selīna Vancāne, Chairwoman of the Riga City Council’s Housing and Environment Committee, emphasized the importance of housing policy and the importance of the involvement of all parties in solving issues in the opening speech.

Leaders of opinions discussed these issues: Aino Salmins, Councilor of the Union of Municipalities of Latvia, Normunds Audzišs, Executive Director of the Association of Large Cities of Latvia, Jānis Baiks, Mayor of Valmiera, Selīna Vancāne, Chairperson of the Housing and Environment Committee of Riga City Council, Līga Plaude, Board Member of LANĪDA, Juris Jansons, Ombudsman of the Republic of Latvia.

Key conclusions after the panel discussion:

• The numbers show a sad picture – out of 23,000 houses that should be renovated, only 12% have done so;
• There is a need for additional and more precisely targeted state financial support, which would promote the speed of house renovation,
• the importance of the role of the municipality in promoting the takeover of houses and the involvement of warming projects

According to the audit data concluded by the Central Statistics Office and the State Audit Office of Latvia, the proportion of Latvian residents living in housing with “significant” damage is the fourth worst indicator in the European Union.

“I have established that the nature of residents’ complaints is directly correlated with the form of house management or management” – this is how the Ombudsman of the Republic of Latvia described the situation.

In his speech, State Auditor Rolands Irklis, analyzing the current situation, noted that the ice has moved, but there is still a lot to be done.

“If the car has a lighthouse with a hole, what will be the loss of resources and comfort from the trip?” (Mārtiņš Tīdens on energy-inefficient houses).

of the Latvian National Development Plan 2021-2027 goal for 2018: housing is available for all households in Latvia. Until 2050, the existing housing stock meets high standards of energy efficiency, construction, safety and well-being. At the moment, the numbers do not show that the goals can be achieved at the rate of renovation of the existing houses, at the current rates, more than 150 will be needed !! years to restore all the houses. What to do?

The following tasks have been set in the national development plan:

1) Increasing the quality of housing by modernizing and improving the energy efficiency and accessibility of housing;

2) Improving the quality of real estate management to reduce the risks of long-term maintenance of buildings.

They should be adhered to, but this means the arrangement of the manager as a regulated profession, more active involvement of housing policy promoters.

We need to act now, and we need to set the “alarm clock” and ….the main thing here is to wake up and still have the opportunity to jump into the “slippers” (LPS councilor Aino Salmins and Dmitrijs Plotnikovs, member of Association “Mājoklis”, SIA “Āgenskalna namsaimnieks”.

Estonia’s experience was shared by Andres Jaadla, chairman of the board of the Estonian Association of Apartment Owners Association EKYL, member of the board of the European Public, Cooperative and Housing Federation HOUSING EUROPE, who drew attention to various important factors that helped promote the renovation of Soviet apartment blocks in Estonia – clear normative regulation, 2018 reform defining the association of apartment owners as the only form through which building management is possible and its positive impact on the renovation wave.

[1] The Estonian Union of Apartment Owners’ Associations EKYL is a body of the UN Center of Excellence for Sustainable Housing and a partner of the Estonian government in the LIFE IP BuildEST or renovation marathon project.

Increasing energy efficiency is a good investment, so it is important to take much faster steps in the renovation of houses, without waiting only for EU funding”, said Mārtiņš Tīdens, Deputy Executive Director of Liepāja municipality for real estate issues.

“Housing policy is an extremely topical and important topic not only for Riga as the capital, but also at the national level. We have started this great work to define the ambitions and needs of the municipality, as well as various tools for the improvement of the housing sector. The challenges of the last years in the changing world order unequivocally confirm that the principle “housing first” is irrefutable, says Dace Vārna, chairman of the board of the Association of Latvian Apartment Owners Association “Mājoklis”

At the end of the “Housing 2023” conference, one main task crystallizes: how important it is to motivate apartment owners, explain, explain and convince, but with clear and precisely targeted state support. The issue of normative regulation – not to get stuck in normativeism, but to solve the guidelines on how to act at the level, because in practice the application of norms is often different.

Powerful speakers, quality content, valuable insights.
See you tomorrow, June 2, in person at the ATTA center or join the live broadcast: www.majoklis.lv

It is organized by the association of apartment owners associations of Latvia “Mājoklis” in cooperation with RPA “Rīgas energy agency” and SIA “Force Lex” Management Education Institution.
The cooperation partner of the conference is AS “CleanR Grupa”, SIA “Saint-Gobain ISOVER”.