Coalition Partner Slams Social Democrat Idea for Social Housing
Reform Party MP Arto Aas said state-run social housing would not decrease rent prices, a week after Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Urve Palo, a Social Democrat, said the state should bring more social housing to the market.
Aas, who is a member of the Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee, said in his blog on Thursday that the initial investment would have to come from the state budget, adding that there is no room for the idea in the coalition agreement.
He said any such program should only target the needy, not the under-30 fresh graduate group, who do not want to be tied down with a mortgage. Palo told Postimees last week that municipal apartments would be for people under 30 years old, who do not want a 30-year mortgage.
High rent is a problem restricted to Tallinn; a lack of renters and not enough rental places, plagues other cities, he said, adding the state should do all to eliminate hurdles in the rent market, such as simplifying declaration of rental incomes and building infrastructure and creating an environment suitable for developing rental housing.