Slovakia

Slovakia’s housing market in 2025 is characterized by record-high property prices and one of the highest home ownership rates in Europe. Around 93% of Slovaks own their homes, with just 7% renting. The average price to buy an apartment nationally is between €2,700 and €3,100 per square meter. The average price to rent is roughly €11–12 per square meter monthly, though this can be higher in Bratislava and other large cities.

Publicly owned housing plays a minimal role in Slovakia. Less than 4% of the overall housing stock is publicly owned, one of the lowest shares in the EU. The state and municipalities own thousands of unused or dilapidated buildings, but lack of land, urban plans, and funds hinders public housing development. Most rental housing is provided by private owners, not the state.

In practice, "public housing" refers to apartments owned by state or municipalities, but "social housing" specifically targets low-income or vulnerable groups. In cities like Bratislava, social housing forms just a portion of the already small public housing stock, and eligibility is tightly regulated. Public housing is not generally available to all renters; social housing is more restrictive, meaning the concepts are related but not identical.

Slovakia’s housing crisis is marked by a sharp decline in new construction and persistently rising property prices, amplifying shortages—especially in urban areas. In the first half of 2025, housing completions fell nearly 20% year-on-year nationally, with Bratislava experiencing its lowest number of completed flats in over two decades. Housing starts also saw double-digit drops across most regions, hinting at deeper supply problems ahead. Both high material and labor costs, lengthy permitting, and weaker demand have contributed to this slowdown.

The housing crisis has a broad impact but falls most heavily on vulnerable populations. Young adults, single-parent families, and households with multiple children face the most risk due to high rents, unstable housing options, and limited access to social or public housing. Over half of Slovak households are considered at risk of poverty, and a majority of young people remain unable to leave their family homes for financial reasons.

Roma families face additional burdens of institutional discrimination, often relegated to poor-quality, segregated public apartments with substandard living conditions. The crisis is underscored by inadequate social support, as public housing is limited and criteria for social housing can exclude those most in need, deepening cycles of housing precarity and even homelessness among marginalized groups. This lack of affordable, quality housing places ongoing stress on social cohesion and household stability across the country.

The Slovak national government addresses affordable and sustainable housing mainly through state-supported financing and targeted renovation and energy programs, but it has not set strong quantitative targets for new large-scale public housing. Key instruments include the State Housing Development Fund (Štátny fond rozvoja bývania), which provides subsidized loans and grants to municipalities for constructing social and rental housing, as well as for private homeowners to upgrade energy efficiency. Recent updates in 2025 include amendments to the Law on State Support for Rental Housing, which aim to encourage more affordable rental apartments and clarify VAT conditions for rental housing, making investment conditions more attractive for institutional developers.

To promote sustainability, the ongoing Green for Households Program allocates €151 million (2024–2029) to help install renewable energy devices and support renovations for energy savings in residential buildings. Additionally, the government integrates EU and national funds into local-level actions, using preferential loans, grants, and energy efficiency incentives to modernize the aging housing stock.

The government’s main strategy is to leverage these financing mechanisms, including EU funds, to incentivize the private sector and municipalities to create or upgrade affordable and energy-efficient housing. However, there is no significant policy shift towards re-expanding public housing; instead, the focus remains on incentivizing both municipalities and private actors through subsidies and administrative reforms.

Cooperative housing in Slovakia has a long tradition, but its role has diminished dramatically since 1989, when most cooperative apartments were privatized and the former housing cooperatives were converted into property management companies. Today, the share of cooperative housing in Slovakia's overall housing stock is extremely small, with no recent data suggesting it exceeds a few percent. The sector is seeing a modest revival due to rising property prices and mortgage inaccessibility for many Slovaks: the first new cooperative housing project in 25 years was launched in Bratislava in 2024, with others proposed if demand persists.

Modern cooperative housing now functions as an alternative to private mortgage ownership, allowing members to use apartments as tenants while gradually acquiring the right to purchase their units. Cooperatives act as legal entities, often with fixed prices and options to transfer apartments to private ownership after several years. The government’s housing strategy provides indirect support through the State Housing Development Fund, offering preferential loans for rental and cooperative projects, but there are no large-scale national policies or programs specifically targeting the expansion of cooperative housing. Instead, the policy focus remains on supporting municipal rental initiatives and modernizing existing housing with EU and state funds, rather than rebuilding the cooperative model as a significant part of the housing sector.