HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT ! BULGARIA 1996
68
longer exist. The newly-built housing struc-
tures hardly fit the definition of a housing
complex. Former construction plans are
likewise irrelevant in the new conditions.
The new construction plans are drafted on
an essentially new principle - all require-
ments of owners (investors), that comply
with the law, are taken into account. This
is a precondition for a profound change in
both the model of land utilization, and the
type of construction.
Although self-construction has sharply
dropped in comparison with the total vol-
ume of new construction, traditions and its
sizeable economic advantages have helped
its survival. It is still the most widespread
type of construction in the villages.
A telling proof of the collapse of in-
dustrialized technologies is the fact that
their share in new housing construction in
1993 was a mere 6.9 per cent. At the same
time the dwellings built by the public sec-
tor account for 75.0 per cent. This practi-
cally means that the large housebuilding
plants have stopped manufacturing prefabs.
They still have their output capacity of over
100,000 prefab houses annually, but it is
idle. No alternative has been found so far
for transforming them into a new type of
housebuilding facility.
No new industrial-
ized technology has been introduced. The
present technological level of housing con-
struction can be compared to that of half a
century ago.
Direct housing subsidies were abol-
ished in 1990. There have remained only
some provisional modifications of housing
subsidy covering the price difference of
houses for non-compensated owners of na-
tionalized estates, for the National Com-
pensation Fund, and for overdue munici-
pal loans.
No reforms have been implemented
in the field of housing taxation yet. The
key inherited form of taxation is the tax on
buildings based on the tax valuation of the
dwelling. Usually it is much lower than its
market value. The new tax (1996) essen-
tially changed the taxation of dwellings
used for office purposes. The tax levied on
sales is 10 per cent of the contract price,
which is usually well below the real price
paid.
5.4. Towards a new housing policy
The housing sector is a major factor
for the countrys macroeconomic stabili-
zation. Its dependence on the budget, mu-
nicipalities, financial sector, industrial
sphere and legal system makes it highly
vulnerable in view of the deep crisis in
them. This necessitates a new housing
policy to be based on the following prin-
ciples:
- The
adequate and affordable hous-
ing is a premise
for the normal reproduc-
tion of the nation and the individual and
should be regarded as an investment in the
countrys sustainable development.
- The housing sector is a key compo-
nent of every economy and can be used as
a motive force of the economic develop-
ment during transition. This calls for inte-
grating the housing policy with the countrys
overall economic policy.
- Housing policy should enable the
balance between economic effectiveness
and social justice. In other words, it should
provide protection to marginal and vulner-
able groups, guaranteed effectiveness and
competition among construction compa-
nies, state control for maintaining economi-
cally objective and affordable prices of
sites, credits, building material and con-
struction.
- Housing policy should guarantee the
diversity
of forms of ownership,
their sta-
bility, availability and affordability.
- Housing policy should help mobilize
both public and private resources, combin-
ing them with subsidies.
- Housing market is a unity of the
markets of land, credits and housing. The
state should make it attractive to investors.
Radical changes have
set in the utilization of
building sites and the
type of construction
Housing construction is
a factor of economic
stabilization