Habitat Bulgaria is implementing the project “Research Based Arguments for New Housing Policies in Benefit of All”. The project started in October 2019 and is funded within the first call for strategic projects of Active Citizen Fund Bulgaria with the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area.
The duration of the project, which aims to support the development of adequate municipal and national housing policies and to contribute to the improvement of the housing conditions of vulnerable groups of the population, is 24 months. The project ends in September 2021.
Within the scope of the new project initiative, Habitat Bulgaria will carry out a detailed sociological research of the housing needs in the Roma communities in the town of Sliven – the district of “Nadezhda” and the village of Topolchane as well in the town of Targovishte – “Malcho Malchev” district and the village of Golyamo Novo. In parallel, Habitat Bulgaria will assess the current housing policies of the municipalities and will prepare an analytical report and recommendations. A debate and direct interventions with the public authorities and other local stakeholders will be initiated on the basis of the report to articulate municipal housing policies, programs and decrees, relevant to the real needs.
The vision, as well the goals and the measures needed for the improvement of the housing conditions, will be discussed at round table discussions with the interested stakeholders. Several local organizations will be trained to advocate for housing and housing-related issues with the local governments. The analytical report and the recommendations will be presented at a National Housing Forum to be attended by the local and the national institutions.
The project “Research Based Arguments for New Housing Policies in Benefit of All” is implemented with a financial support of 93,000 Euro, secured by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway within the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The main goal of the project is to contribute to the development of long-term, needs-driven municipal and national housing policies, which will secure safe and adequate housing for Roma.
More from this category
Bulgaria can go further to enhance long-term care for older people and secure housing for Roma communities 07.07.2026 - Strasbourg, 6 July 2026 – The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, conducted a visit to Bulgaria from 29 June to 3 July 2026. The visit focused on the human rights of older persons living in long-term care facilities, as part of the Commissioner’s broader engagement on this issue across Council of Europe […]
From informal settlements to secure homes: what Bulgaria learned from Romania 29.04.2026 - April 21–23, 2026, Bulgaria–Romania: Institutions and municipalities exchanged best practices for transforming informal settlements into sustainable and safe communities. How can unregulated neighborhoods be turned into secure and dignified places to live? And how can national and local authorities join forces to break the long-standing cycle of poverty? These questions were at the heart of […]
Minister Nikolay Naydenov: It is imperative to immediately start working on a new National Housing Strategy 22.04.2026 - The elaboration of the new national housing strategy of Bulgaria is to be commissioned. In the assignment for this strategy, we will focus on the problems regarding social housing and neighbourhoods, defined by data and research – socio-economic, statistical, spatial, territorial-structural, sociological, financial and successful practices. This was announced by the Minister of Regional Development […]
Guidebook on Best Practices towards the reduction of energy poverty and firewood use 22.11.2024 - Action C8 of the LIFE BioBalance project and Activity AIII.1 of the BioJust project focused on demonstrating and evidencing solutions to increase the capacity and knowledge of low-income rural communities to reduce firewood-dependency. The Action consisted of three main elements: ● Research on energy poverty and household biomass use – Fuel of the Poor study. […]
Habitat for Humanity pledges access to resilient housing solutions ahead of the Buildings and Climate Global Forum in Paris 06.03.2024 - PARIS (March 6, 2024) — Today, in recognition of housing’s critical role in climate mitigation and adaptation, Habitat for Humanity has made specific programmatic commitments toward accelerating low-income families’ access to low-carbon, resilient housing solutions. Furthermore, through its Home Equals campaign, Habitat for Humanity is calling on governments at all levels to prioritize locally led adaptation actions that directly […]
Bulgaria: Renovating the unfit housing stock / Feantsa case Study #2 18.11.2023 - More than 19.2 million people in Europe, 4.2% of the total population, were experiencing severe housing deprivation in 2020. Unfit housing has a dramatic affect on the health and wellbeing of households, from physical affects such as respiratory infections and asthma, or the danger of the physical collapse of buildings, and mental toll resulting in […]