The primary guideline for constructing state-supported housing in Belarus remains its affordability. This was stated by Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting on the prospects of housing construction and improving the efficiency of rental housing use, BELTA reports.

A total of 6.5 million square meters of housing is planned for construction in the country with state support in 2026–2030, of which 5 million square meters will be rental apartments.

— The priorities remain the same: the price per square meter should not exceed the average monthly wage, the construction deadlines should be standard, without any long-term projects. And the quality... We must ensure that a person can move into a house or apartment and live there.

Currently, 542 thousand families are on the waiting list for improved housing conditions. The focus in addressing their issues is shifting towards rental apartments, which are provided by enterprises or local authorities. However, regulatory bodies continue to identify systemic shortcomings in this area: often, new facilities are built not to meet the real needs of the economy, but to meet assigned targets.

— A disaster, isn't it? At the same time, regions sometimes complain that there is not only a lack of need for construction, but also sources of funding. It turns out that the Grodno or Mogilev regions don't need housing, yet someone is imposing the construction of this housing on them.

The President emphasized that the essence of rental housing lies in its connection to specific jobs. He named Petrikov, Rudensk, Turov, and Vitebsk as successful examples. To make this practice widespread, Belarus will establish a transparent system for tracking citizens eligible for such apartments, and the funding for projects will more actively involve the own funds of the enterprises themselves.

• This is not just budget money. The enterprise must also invest its own money.

Separately at the meeting, the issue of the vacant housing fund was raised. Currently, over 17 thousand state-owned residential premises are listed as unclaimed, many of which have been vacant for more than a year. Nearly 6 thousand of them are deemed unfit for habitation.

— We built housing, and nobody needs it? Many apartments have been vacant for over a year. Where is the owner's approach? We spend money on maintenance, while people are waiting in line.

Prime Minister Alexander Turchin explained that the issue mainly concerns not new buildings, but old departmental and service housing in rural areas, which was reclassified as rental property in 2016. Alexander Lukashenko indicated that if possible, such facilities should be repaired or sold rather than demolished.

The meeting also addressed the timelines for moving into new apartments. According to Decree No. 388, the duration of all procedures is limited to 30 working days from the date the building is put into operation, whereas previously this process could stretch to 200 days.

"Not so long ago, following complaints, we decided to maximally reduce the timeframes for moving into new buildings. Local authorities should take this process under control. Built apartments should not remain empty. God forbid, if someone complains to me again that housing has been built somewhere and remains uninhabited."

In conclusion, the meeting discussed payment discipline. In some regional centers, the rent for a two-bedroom apartment is a symbolic 30 rubles per month, however, the total amount of overdue debt for rent and utilities across the country has exceeded 20 million rubles.

"It costs mere pennies, and they can't pay that? Of course, situations vary. Sometimes a person falls into hardship and is in a difficult situation. They may need help. But we shouldn't be helping for years on end. The facts and amounts of total debts recorded by the State Control Committee show that there is some kind of systemic oversight here that needs to be corrected."