The housing problem in Romania: Demand for social housing is 2.5 times higher than the existing social housing stock

Romania ranks last in the EU in terms of social housing, with only 0.17% of the national housing stock being social housing. In Central and Eastern European countries, the percentage varies between 6.6% in Poland and 0.8% in Lithuania, while in Western Europe it varies between 34.1% in the Netherlands and 10.9% in Finland, according to OECD data for 2020–2024, processed by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

In 2022, there were only 16,290 social housing units nationwide, representing 0.17% of the total 9.7 million housing units, while over 40,000 applications for social housing were submitted, 2.5 times more than the social housing stock, according to the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration (MDLPA).

In Bucharest, data provided by the Bucharest City Hall (PMB) show that between 2023 and 2025, there were an average of 5,500 applications for social housing at the PMB level alone, although the total number of applications is actually much higher because there are also applications at the district level, but the exact figures are not publicly available. Not all of these applications are complete, as the list of required documents is very long and complex, and many applicants encounter difficulties in completing them. The number of complete files was only 173 in 2023, 164 in 2024, and 134 in 2025, meaning that on average only 3% of applications submitted are complete^[1]. Of the complete files, 24 families in 2023, 12 families in 2024, and only 3 families in 2025 were resolved, meaning they received social housing. Compared to the total number of applications, these figures are negligible: less than 5 families out of a thousand received social housing in 2023, just over 2 out of a thousand in 2024, and only 1 family out of 2,000 families in 2025.

The total number of social housing units in Bucharest managed by the PMB was 1,175^[2], and information on social housing construction is incomplete: between 1996^[3] and 2008, the PMB General Directorate for Investment did not keep records of the number of social housing units built. Between 2008 and 2014, only 242 apartments were built as social housing, and from 2014 to the present, no other social housing has been built. During this period, a project for 114 social housing units^[4] was started at Prelungirea Ghencea no. 322-326, which is still not completed and there is no deadline for the completion of the works.

In order to address the serious housing problems faced by certain categories of the population (9.6% of the total population of our country is severely deprived of housing, as shown in the previous infographic published by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich-Ebert -Stiftung), the authorities should invest in social housing at a faster rate than they are currently doing. In Romania, there is an urgent need for public housing—both social housing and housing for young people or for doctors and teachers in rural areas. Furthermore, the National Housing Strategy 2022-2050 needs to be reformulated to include public housing as a strategic solution, especially given that almost 72,000 people live in 400 informal settlements across the country, i.e., in precarious conditions with limited access to electricity and sanitation, according to MDLPA data from 2022.

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Data source:

• OECD (2024), OECD Affordable Housing Database - indicator PH4.2. Social rental housing stock
• INSSE – Housing Fund, 2023
• Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration (MDLPA) – National Housing Strategy 2022-2050
• ActiveWatch Report – Precarious Housing and Social Housing in Bucharest - Many Papers, Few Homes, 2023
• Bucharest City Hall, information received at the request of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung under Law 544/2001.

Data processing and text design: Maria-Luiza Apostolescu

Infographic: Pascalone Media SRL

The media may reproduce the text and infographic, provided the source is acknowledged.

[1] According to the law, social housing is only allocated to families with complete files.

[2] According to the response to the request for information submitted by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the records of the Real Estate Fund Administration (AFI) show 1,486 housing units owned by the Municipality of Bucharest, of which 1,175 are social housing units and 311 are designated as emergency housing. Currently, 99 of the dwellings owned by the Municipality of Bucharest are unoccupied, either due to litigation, because they are located in buildings classified as RSI seismic risk class, or because they are undergoing repairs necessary for their intended use.

[3] The concept of social housing came into force with Housing Law No. 144/1996.

[4] The Bucharest City Council allocated housing to 114 families in 2020 without the building being completed, meaning that these families were unable to benefit from social housing.