The draft law on affordable social housing was accompanied by debate in the Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Sustainable Development. Opposition MPs Klodiana Capja and Redi Muçi opposed the government initiative, calling it propaganda and raising concerns about high housing prices, which have made buying an apartment unaffordable for young people and middle-income families.
During the reporting by Minister Delina Ibrahimaj, MP Capja declared that the government has remembered social policies on the eve of the election year, while criticizing the implementation of previous housing programmes.
“On the eve of the election year, the government remembers social policies. Every young person protesting in the square has no chance of buying an apartment. All this seems to me to be part of propaganda,” Capja said.
She also raised accusations about the distribution of social housing, claiming that in Elbasan County, militants and figures of the Socialist Party had benefited. Capja called for the measures envisaged in the draft law to be implemented in practice and not remain only on paper.
MP Redi Muçi also described housing as one of the country’s biggest problems. According to him, apartment prices in Tirana have risen three times faster than wages.
“The ratio of wage growth to apartment prices in Tirana is 1 to 3. The construction sector itself is heading towards an economic bubble that will burst, which is being kept afloat thanks to money coming from drug money laundering. This is proven by the SPAK files,” Muçi declared.
He described the discussion in the committee as propaganda about a problem that particularly affects the middle class, and made it known that he would present his amendments in the plenary session.
The presence of the two opposition MPs was also commented on by the committee chairwoman, Anila Denaj, who asked them whether they had amendments to present. Capja explained that she had taken part in the meeting, despite the boycott by her colleagues, in order to convey the concerns of citizens and protesting students, for whom buying or renting a home in Tirana has become unaffordable.
She said she would prepare the amendments during the continuation of the review of the draft law, while Denaj stressed that they should be discussed article by article in the responsible committee.
On the other hand, Minister Ibrahimaj defended the initiative, stressing that the aim is to adapt housing policies to rising prices and citizens’ needs.
“I did not hear any proposal. Proposals do not come as a result of failure. The goal is to introduce new instruments, not to reject a successful draft law,” Ibrahimaj said.
The draft law provides for the expansion of housing support instruments, including zero-interest loans, rent compensation and the transformation of the National Housing Entity into a joint-stock company.