1,095 social housing units for more than 2,500 people are being built with EU funds

A total of 1,095 social housing units with a capacity to accommodate 2,548 people will be built with funding from the Operational Programme "Regions in Growth" 2014-2020 managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. They will be in the cities of Varna, Plovdiv, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Vidin, Haskovo, Shumen, Pernik, Vratsa, Lovech, Kardzhali, Smolyan, Razgrad, Kazanlak, Gotse Delchev, Silistra, Targovishte, Lom, Petrich, Svishtov, Velingrad and Montana.

So far, 183 social housing units have been completed in Blagoevgrad for 376 persons.  27 people have already been accommodated in them.

Projects for another 912 social housing units are under implementation.

Within the previous programming period - 2007-2013, 4 pilot projects of the municipalities of Vidin, Devnya, Dupnitsa and Sofia Municipality were implemented with funds from the Operational Programme "Regional Development", which provided 334 social housing units for 684 people from socially vulnerable groups.

Currently, the Ministry of Regional Development is in the process of preparing for the new programming period 2021-2027 and will continue to support the provision of modern and affordable municipal housing for vulnerable and other disadvantaged groups.  In addition, innovative approaches to financing housing in municipalities will be pursued, including experimentation and links with sustainable urban development. Architectural design and construction of housing applying environmental sustainability principles will be promoted, with particular attention to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Providing homes for the most vulnerable groups is part of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works' targeted efforts to improve housing conditions for these people and to reduce the relative proportion of homeless and socially housed citizens in need. As a continuation of this policy, in addition to the European programme funds, the MRDPW is preparing a new National Housing Strategy.  The draft is in line with global and European trends for the development of the sector, and targeted programmes will be developed to achieve the specific objectives set out in the strategy. Their implementation will be the responsibility of the municipal administrations.