Lithuania

Lithuania’s housing crisis is marked by sharply rising property prices and limited affordable housing options, especially in its largest cities. Between 2023 and 2025, apartment prices in Vilnius rose to around €2,680 per square meter, with similar price increases in major cities like Kaunas and Klaipėda. Annual price growth has ranged from 5% to 7% in 2025, and property prices have more than doubled since 2015, outpacing wage growth for many residents. This escalation intensifies affordability challenges, despite a high home ownership rate of about 87–89%. The crisis primarily affects young adults, low-income families, and other vulnerable groups. While home ownership remains the norm, these groups face growing barriers to buying property and limited alternatives in the rental market. Renters are increasingly burdened by rising costs, with average rents in Vilnius reaching €13–€15 per square meter per month, significantly straining disposable incomes. The housing cost overburden rate, indicating the share of households spending 40% or more of their income on housing, was about 5.6% in 2022—highlighting acute pressure for some segments of the population. Public housing is scarce, accounting for only about 2.4%–3% of the overall stock, leading to long waiting lists and unmet demand for social housing. The lack of affordable rental options and the limited supply of publicly supported housing leave the most affected—young people, low-income households, and city dwellers—vulnerable to housing insecurity.

The Lithuanian national government addresses affordable and sustainable housing through targeted financial support, energy efficiency programs, and new sustainability regulations, though a unified housing strategy is lacking. Policy initiatives focus on means-tested rental compensation and energy cost subsidies for low-income tenants. Assistance for young and lower-income households includes home purchase subsidies, but these face funding constraints and are considered insufficient given demand. Significant sustainable housing targets are tied to EU-funded recovery programs: Lithuania aims to renovate approximately 9,500 apartment buildings by 2030, with a €3.3 billion investment, to improve energy efficiency and climate resilience. About €370 million from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility will create 700 new affordable housing units and make accessibility improvements for people with disabilities. The government plans to renovate 1,000 apartment buildings annually until 2030. Recent regulations require that, from November 2024, all new public buildings use at least 50% wood or organic materials, and green building certifications will be mandatory for new developments starting in 2025. These regulations align with Lithuania's goal to generate up to 90% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and incentivize the use of eco-friendly construction materials. Despite these efforts, the current framework remains fragmented: responsibilities are spread across multiple ministries, and public/social housing remains scarce. The government is encouraged to create a cohesive national housing strategy and reinforce municipal capacity to better address growing affordability pressures and meet sustainability targets.

Housing cooperatives in Lithuania play a minor but gradually more visible role in the country’s housing landscape. Historically, the sector has not been as prominent as in some Western European countries, with cooperative housing accounting for only a negligible share of total housing units—far below social housing, which itself comprises about 3% of national stock. This low share is largely the result of Lithuania’s strong focus on individual home ownership and a lack of tradition in cooperative housing. Recent years, however, have seen renewed interest in housing cooperatives as potential contributors to affordability and inclusive urban development. The Lithuanian government is updating the legal framework to widen opportunities for establishing residential cooperatives. Proposed legislative changes would allow cooperative structures for not only apartment buildings but also other property types, aiming to make management of shared spaces more democratic and transparent. Some municipalities are beginning to explore partnerships with cooperatives to expand affordable housing options. Despite these positive developments, the cooperative housing sector remains in its early stages. There are no comprehensive national programs specifically geared toward promoting cooperative housing, and so far, only a small number of projects receive municipal or EU support. The main challenges are the entrenched culture of ownership, limited awareness, and the absence of a holistic national housing strategy. In summary, while the dimension of cooperative housing in Lithuania is presently very limited, current policy efforts and legal reforms signal a cautious emergence of the sector as part of broader attempts to diversify affordable housing solutions.

Lithuania’s housing market is currently strong, with continued growth in property prices and transaction volumes, especially in major cities like Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda. As of early 2025, the home ownership rate stands at 87.4%, while about 12.6% of people rent their homes. The country’s housing culture overwhelmingly favors ownership, and the rental market is smaller but expanding, driven in part by student demand and urbanization. The median apartment purchase price per square meter is €2,680 in Vilnius, €1,846 in Kaunas, and €1,752 in Klaipėda. Across the country, prices range between €1,700 and €2,700 per square meter. Average rents in Vilnius have risen sharply and now reach around €13 to €15 per sqm per month, translating to €650-€750 per month for a 50 sqm apartment. Rental yields in Vilnius are between 5% and 6%. Publicly owned housing, including social (socialinis būstas) and municipal housing, makes up a very small share of the total housing stock—about 2.4% to a maximum of 3%. Social housing is strictly means-tested, targeted at society’s most vulnerable, and is provided by municipalities. Public housing and social housing overlap but are not entirely synonymous: public housing refers to all municipally owned housing, while social housing specifically refers to units rented below market rates to low-income and vulnerable groups. The supply of social housing is very limited and demand consistently outpaces availability.