Problems and Solutions of Multi-apartment Housing Management in Latvia

Abstract

Housing policy is closely related to the well-being and social integration of the population of each country, and has a great impact on the development of various sectors and the entire national economy. An important part of housing policy is the housing management sector, whose processes affect all levels of society. The goals of the housing policy in Latvia are to promote the quality and availability of housing and to ensure the regulatory basis for management. Special attention should be paid to multi-apartment residential buildings, as they occupy more than half of the total residential area in Latvia, and approximately 65% of the population lives in apartments. The tasks of the study are to identify, collect and analyse information on the aspects of managing multi-apartment residential buildings, as well as to provide recommendations for the improvement of the housing policy. The monographic or descriptive method was used for the analysis of the theoretical base. In order to find out the current situation and the main problems related to the management of residential buildings, a survey was conducted in which residents of multi-apartment residential buildings of different series and different in number of apartments participated. Analysing the results of the survey, it was found that the main problems are related to incomplete information, lack of interest, incompetence, lack of communication between apartment owners and the house manager, as well as various legal deficiencies regarding ownership rights. Improvement of the regulatory base, increasing the competence of managers and information measures for apartment owners are offered as solutions.