Vilnius

The Vilnius city administration is actively addressing housing challenges through various initiatives. The "Let's Renew the City" program, established in 2007 and transferred to the Vilnius City Municipality Administration in 2019, serves as a competence center for developing sustainable living environments. It focuses on educating residents about multi-apartment renovations, administering renovation projects, and developing support programs to enhance energy efficiency and reduce environmental pollution.

The city is grappling with urbanization challenges, as the densely populated center limits new housing development where it's most needed. To address this, Vilnius is working on guidelines to establish a platform for sustainable housing growth, collaborating with municipal institutions to identify potential development sites, and exploring ways to make affordable housing financially viable.

Vilnius is also promoting the use of eco-friendly materials in construction projects. New regulations require public buildings to be constructed with at least 50% wood and organic materials starting from November 2024. The city is investing in green building projects, such as the Launagiai district development, which aims to create thousands of new homes designed with sustainability in mind.

Additionally, Vilnius is participating in a €100 million initiative with the European Investment Bank to renovate over 700 apartment buildings, focusing on improving energy efficiency and sustainability in housing.

Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has experienced significant growth in its housing market in recent years. In 2023, developers built 4,915 apartments for sale in Vilnius, an 18% increase from 2022. This marks one of the highest figures in the last two decades, second only to 2007, 2008, and 2020 when over 5,000 apartments were built for sale.

The rental market in Vilnius is expanding rapidly, with professionally managed rental units increasing to 2,100 in 2023. Two new rental projects added almost 800 units to the market that year.

While specific figures for total housing units in Vilnius are not provided, Lithuania as a whole has a high rate of homeownership. As of 2023, 88.8% of Lithuanians owned their homes, while 11.2% rented. However, experts predict this ratio may shift in the coming years due to rising real estate prices and the developing rental market.

Recent data on median prices per square meter for renting or buying in Vilnius is not available in the search results. However, as of July 2024, the average rental price in Vilnius was 14.87 euros per square meter per month.

Social housing plays a small but growing role in Vilnius. In 2004, social housing accounted for 2.4% of the total housing stock in Lithuania, with plans to increase this to 3% by 2010. More recent figures are not provided in the search results.