Housing market challenges and policy options in Slovenia

Slovenia's current housing challenges are characterised by strong demand and inadequate supply, exacerbated by rising construction and financing costs. High ownership rates mask the affordability challenge for younger cohorts or those who want to move amid limited rental markets and insufficient residential construction activity. This paper proposes a range of policy options to make housing more efficient, inclusive and sustainable. Streamlining spatial planning and permitting systems would foster housing supply responsiveness. Levelling the playing field in rental markets and overhauling real estate taxation can boost market efficiency. Enhancing access to mortgage financing and improving framework conditions for the provision of social housing would expand housing options for households. Finally, housing policies should aim at accelerating the transition to a net-zero economy by aligning energy taxation more closely with the carbon content of the source, strengthening the support programmes for renovation works and improving framework conditions for the deployment of district heating and electrification.