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Section 2 Context Context Section 2 have declined, although the latter remains high in comparison to many other European countries – in 2002, 18.5% of the Slovakian population was unemployed. 2.24.4 Demography In 2001, the population of Slovakia was 5,379,455 persons. The population has fallen slightly since 1997 when it stood at 5,388,000 persons. TABLE 2.24.3 reveals that this trend is attributable to a fall in the birth rate – live births per 1,000 inhabitants fell from 11 in 1997 to 9.5 in 2001, and in the latter year fell below replacement levels. In contrast, net migration has remained consistently positive since 1997, but at very low levels. The number of Slovakians in the 18 to 65 year age group also rose slightly between 1997 and 2001. However, over the longer term there is a pattern of the ageing of the population. Between 1961 and 2002, the proportion of the Slovakian population aged under 18 years fell from 31.5% to 18.9%, while the proportion aged over 65 years grew from 13.7% to 18.8% over the same period. In 2001, the Slovakian population included 2,071,743 households. The average number of persons per household in that year stood at 2.59%, 43.2% of households included 4 or more people, and the population density per 1 km 2 stood at 110. 2.25 Slovenia 2.25.1 Policy Making and Implementation In 2000, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the National Housing Programme for the period 2000-2009. The main goal of the National Housing Programme is to enable the construction of 10,000 new dwellings annually, which should be sufficient to address all housing needs in the country, including social housing needs. In 2003, a new Housing Act was passed which substantially upgraded the previous 1991 Housing Act. Its central aims are as follows: ■ the revival of new housing construction and renewal as well as the improvement of the maintenance of the existing housing stock; ■ greater efficiency of management of apartment blocks; ■ the collection of reserve funds for major maintenance work; ■ facilitating the qualification of local communities to perform duties in the housing sector and the provision of various forms of rental and owneroccupied housing; ■ the simplification and unifying of non-profit rents at cost level and the improvement of the social correction system in the housing area, and ■ the establishment of the building cadastre. The key agency responsible for housing policy implementation in Slovenia is the Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia. This is a financial institution whose basic initial source of funds was the revenue acquired from the sale of public housing that was carried out between 1991 and 1993. Twenty per cent of the proceeds of the sale of each formerly public rented dwelling were provided to the Housing Fund. However, this source of revenue diminished after privatisation was completed. For this reason, the Housing Fund was funded also by the State budget until 2000. The Housing Fund was created for the purpose of providing loans for the construction, renewal and maintenance of housing. The Fund thus provides loans at more favourable interest rates compared to those of commercial banks, for an annuity period of 10 to 25 years. The beneficiaries of the Housing Fund’s finance are, on the one hand, first-time home buyers and, on the other hand, local authorities and local authority housing funds and non-profit housing organisations, which are responsible primarily for the construction of nonprofit rental housing in the country. Recently, the Housing Fund has been operating also as a jointinvestor in housing construction. This has been done by entering into partnerships with local authorities in order to construct good quality and affordable housing on communally serviced building land which is usually provided by the local authority partner. 2.52.2 Stock In 2002, the Slovenian housing stock stood at 777,772 dwellings, 220,709 of which were apartments. This means that there were 390 per 1,000 inhabitants in this country in 2002. This is below the average for the 28 countries examined in this review but above the average for the CEE countries under examination. Like many other countries in this part of Europe, tenure patterns in Slovenia changed radically during the 1990s as a result of the aforementioned privatisation of the public rented housing stock. In 2002, 82.2% of dwellings in this country were owner-occupied, compared to 66.9% in 1991. As is revealed in TABLE 2.25.1, the remainder of the housing stock consists of social housing rented from the State or local authorities (6.2%), other social housing providers (0.3%), and private rented dwellings (2.6%). The average dwelling size of a Slovenian dwelling was 74.6 m 2 in 2002 which is around average in European terms. However, in the same year 76.9% of all dwellings in Slovenia had 3 rooms or less. The average number of persons per dwelling was 2.8. Apartment Table 2.25.1 Characteristics of the Housing Stock in Slovenia, 2002 Category % Dwellings by tenure Public rental (national and local government) 6.2 Social landlords 0.3 Private rental 2.6 Owner-occupied 82.2 Co-operative Nav Others 8.7 Dwellings by number of rooms 1 14.3 2 31.8 3 30.8 4 14.5 5 + 8.7 Dwellings by age > 3 years 0.8 4- 8 years 3.4 9-13 years 3.6 14-28 years 28.9 29-58 years 39.8 59-103 years 10.6 < 104 years 12.8 Dwellings by availability of amenities Electricity 99.1 Sewage 98.6 Water supply 98.5 Central heating 78.6 Bathing facilities 92 Lavatory 93 blocks and high-rise residential dwellings have fewer rooms than single-family dwellings. In 2002, 95.2% of dwellings of this type had 3 rooms or fewer. The Slovenian housing stock is relatively old compared to many other countries included in this review. Only 7.8% of dwellings have been constructed since 1989. From the point of view of the availability of services, the standard of the housing stock in Slovenia is relatively high. The vast majority of dwellings are connected to electricity, a sewage system and a water supply and 78.6% of dwellings have central heating. It is estimated that about 14% of the dwellings in the country were vacant in 2002. However, of this percentage, approx-imately 31,681 dwellings were not available for letting because they were second homes, holiday homes or inappropriately furnished. 74 European Union Report Regular National Report on Housing Developments in European Countries 75
Section 2 Context Context Section 2 Table 2.25.2 Economic Trends in Slovenia, 1995-2002 2.26 Spain requirements, including: a limited useful surface (maximum 90 m2) and a limited price per m 2 ; Category 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 % % % % % % % % Change in GDP at constant (1995) prices 4.1 3.6 4.8 3.6 5.6 3.9 2.7 3.4 Change in the harmonised index of consumer prices Nav 9.9 8.3 7.9 6.1 8.9 8.6 Nav Unemployed persons as a % of the labour force Nav 6.9 6.9 7.4 7.2 6.6 5.8 Nav 2.25.3 Economy TABLE 2.25.2 provides details of recent economic trends in Slovenia. It reveals a slow-down in the rate of increase in GDP , from 5.6% in 1999 to 3.4% in 2002, and a persistently high rate of inflation as compared to more long-standing members of the EU. The unemployment rate in this country is significantly lower than the average for the new 8 CEE countries which joined the EU in 2004 2.25.4 Demography TABLE 2.25.3 demonstrates that in 2002, the total population of Slovenia stood at 1,964,036 persons and 684,847 households. The average number of persons per household was 2.8 in 2002, and 55.5% of all households included more than 3 persons. On average households living in apartments or high-rise dwellings are slightly smaller in size. Only 48.6% of the households so accommodated included 3 or more persons in 2002. Table 2.25.3 Category Demographic Trends in Slovenia, 1995-2020 Population No. 1,964,036 Private households No. 684,847 Average number of persons per household No. 2.8 1 person households % 21.4 2 person households % 23.1 3 person households % 21.1 4 person households % 23.2 5 or more person households % 11.2 2.26.1 Policy Making and Implementation Although Spain is not a federal State, the Spanish constitution divides the country into 18 autonomous regions and cities with political, administrative and judicial powers. Moreover, the constitution affords these regions and cities significant political and administrative independence in the housing field. Therefore in Spain, central government has no specific rights or responsibilities in the housing field. However, central government’s responsibilities in relation to national economic and planning policy mean that it plays a role in the housing field because housing is very important to the national economy. As a result central government has introduced several housing financing schemes since the ratification of the Spanish constitution in 1978. The autonomous regions have devised their own housing policies, which involve various levels of public funding. Central government utilises two principal instruments to contribute to the financing of housing: fiscal measures and State housing financing plans. The fiscal measures indirectly influence the behaviour of both developers and buyers of housing. The main measures of this sort that are employed are: value added tax (VAT) and income tax. In general these fiscal instruments do not take account of the income levels of buyers, excepting some cases such as additional VAT reductions in the case of certain dwellings for lowincome families. In contrast, the State housing financing plans are applied in a more targeted manner that takes account of the income levels and other characteristics of beneficiaries. The key features of these financing plans are as follows: ■ central government determines which type of dwellings, activities, or recipients will be targeted; ■ in relation to officially protected dwellings, in order to be granted this status by the authorities of the autonomous regions, they must fulfil certain ■ to date, supports for the following types of development have been provided: – the development of new officially protected dwellings by private as well as public organisations for sale or rent; in practice most dwellings are developed by the private sector and in the case of rented dwellings, the government incentives go to the developer, not to the tenants, although the latter has the advantage of the capped rents which must be charged on developments of this type; – the purchase of these officially protected dwellings, as well as other existing dwellings, which must fulfil the aforementioned requirements in relation to size and price; – refurbishing inner city areas, as well as certain other buildings and dwellings and availing of central government aids of this type; this usually involves an agreement between local and regional government, together with an agreement between the latter and central government regarding the inclusion of the area in the regional targets within the national housing plan; – providing sites for the construction of all types of officially protected dwellings; ■ central government plans also determine the type, level and timeframe of the public aid available for each type of protected dwelling and target recipient group; ■ the public aid consists of qualified loans (from savings banks and commercial banks), together with subsidies towards the cost of these loans and provision of housing allowances by central government, and ■ the State housing financing plans are implemented and managed by means of agreements with the autonomous regions and the other financing organisations – agreements with the autonomous regions generally last four years; during this period, a variety of targets, relating to the number of dwellings to be constructed or refurbished, must be reached in order to access the loans, subsidies and housing allowances. 76 European Union Report Regular National Report on Housing Developments in European Countries 77
Page 1 and 2: REGULAR NATIONAL REPORT ON SYNTHESI
Page 3 and 4: Regular National Report on Housing
Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents Table of Contents
Page 7 and 8: Definition of Terms New Member Stat
Page 9 and 10: Section 1 Introduction and Summary
Page 19 and 20: Section 2 Context Context Section 2
Page 45: Section 2 Context Context Section 2
Page 55 and 56: Section 3 Policies Policies Section
Page 75 and 76: Section 3 Policies 3.7.2 Expected M
Page 77 and 78: Section 4 Outcomes Outcomes Section
Page 97 and 98:
Appendix 1 Members of European Hous
Page 99 and 100:
Appendix 2 Questionnaire 4.4 Housin
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