Housing in Tirana is turning into a challenge for many young people and families, as a result of the lack of a clear urban development strategy, the favoring of builders over the public interest and the constant increase in prices.
These conclusions were highlighted in the study "Housing Challenges in Tirana Municipality", presented by the Institute for Criticism and Social Emancipation (IKESH).
"Housing should be treated as a fundamental right and not just as a roof over one's head," researcher Xhuljane Uku said during the presentation, highlighting the importance of Tirana's economic development, which according to her, "it is mainly relying on construction".
Building permits
In the last seven years, not including 2024, Tirana Municipality has approved over 8133 new construction permits, although the city's population is officially declining.
The number of citizens transferred during a year from districts to Tirana fell from 21 thousand in 2019 to only 5,700 in 2023. However, the area of construction permits reached a record level of 1.8 million m² in 2022, according to INSTAT.
The IKESH study reports that 60% of construction companies that received construction permits between 2017 and 2019 do not justify their financial resources.
For this period, according to the "Global Initiative against Organized Cross-Border Crime", it is estimated that around 1.6 billion euros have been laundered in the construction sector.
Rising prices and social inequalities
In 2023, the average price per square meter reached 1500 euros, while the average salary did not exceed 700 euros per month. Thus the gap between housing price growth and wages deepened, with an increase of 20.90% for housing and only 9.44% for wages.
"Builders create an artificial demand, distorting the real market of supply and demand," said urban planner Artan Kacani.
According to a case study taken for example in the IKESH report, the monthly rent of an apartment near the national stadium in Tirana is lower than the monthly cost of a loan to buy the same property. This reflects the financial challenges faced by individuals seeking to enter the housing market in the most popular areas.
Among the main reasons for the increase in rental prices, this report lists social segregation and the creation of luxury for a small elite, the creation of a real estate bubble, lack of supervision, etc.
The missing Social housing program
The IKESH report states that"Tirana is one of the seven main European cities with high levels of housing unaffordability" making it difficult for the needy or the middle class to own a home.
Faced with this situation, the social housing programs of the Municipality of Tirana can be said to have failed to meet the needs of the citizens.
The municipality offers as support programs for housing rent subsidy (rental bonus), loan interest (soft loans) and low-cost housing (social housing).
But of the 4,350 rent subsidy applications (2018-2024), only 49% (2,146) have been approved.
Out of 7,645 loan interest subsidy applications (2018-2022), only 34% (2,652) have been accepted.
Meanwhile, for low-cost housing (2015-2018), there were no beneficiaries even though 1,255 citizens applied.
"Only 467 young people, as a priority category, have benefited from social housing in seven years," emphasized the researcher Vitori Cipi.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The IKESH report concludes that the current situation in the housing market in Tirana is the result of weak urban development policies, lack of transparency and favoring builders, leaving citizens under the pressure of not being able to secure an affordable home.
For this, it is suggested to revise the value of the reference price and create a regulator of rents and purchase prices.
At the same time, it is recommended to reduce the dependence of Tirana Municipality on the construction sector, strengthen the control over financial investments in construction and the creation of property unions and the incentive to put empty apartments on the market, minimizing the impact of real estate bubbles.
He completed his master's studies in the department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Tirana. She has been reporting for more than four years in Citizens.al on issues of culture, urban development, feminism, etc. She is also a contributor to other local and foreign online media, and has worked in the editing of various materials. She is the author of the podcast "Pezull" on Citizens.al and is engaged as a coordinator of projects related to the empowerment of young journalists and migration issues.
