TIRANA, June 2 – Social housing programs are seen as the only solution for the large stock of unsold apartments which could inject liquidity into the long-ailing construction sector.
Albania’s Association of Developers says there are 10,000 unsold apartments nationwide mainly in suburban areas of Tirana, Durres and Vlora which could be used for social housing needs.
“We agree that apartment prices should further drop but in suburban areas prices have dropped as low as their costs. This way, the government could enter the housing market so that the industry is no longer aggravated,” says Arben Dervishi, a representative of the Developers Association.
He described investments in the Tirana, Durres and Vlora suburban areas as wrong investments in wrong places which no longer meet consumer demand.
The government has earlier indicated it could buy the stock of unsold apartments, but only in costs the National Housing Entity would face in case of building them in its own, which means up to Euro 250/m2.
Only less than 20 percent of people in need in Albania have benefited from social housing programs which are too small to address the needs of the changing urban population, according to a UNDP study.
The Association of Developers says Tirana construction costs have sharply increased during the past year following a sharp hike in some local government taxes, which has been reflected in higher final prices.
Tirana apartment prices now range from 400 to 500 euros/m2 in suburban areas to 1,100 to 1,500 euros/m2 in downtown Tirana.
Albania has recently launched an electronic platform on construction permits, enabling both businesses and households to apply online by reducing bureaucracy and paperwork in state offices.
The initiative comes at a time when the number of new permits has dropped to a record low following an almost 2-year suspension to curb illegal constructions, which ranked Albania the world’s worst country in dealing with construction permits in the latest Doing Business report.
