Romania ranks last in the European Union for social housing, with only 0.17% of the national housing stock allocated to this category, according to OECD data for the period 2020 - 2024 processed by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
According to the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration (MDLPA), in 2022 Romania had 16,290 social housing units, representing 0.17% of the country's 9.7 million homes. Demand far outstripped supply, with more than 40,000 applications submitted - 2.5 times the available stock.
In Bucharest, City Hall data show that between 2023 and 2025 an average of 5,500 applications were filed annually. Yet only 173 complete files were registered in 2023, 164 in 2024 and 134 in 2025 - meaning just 3% of applications were complete. Of those, 24 families received housing in 2023, 12 in 2024 and only three in 2025. "Relative to the total number of applications, these figures are minuscule: less than five families out of a thousand received social housing in 2023, a little over two per thousand in 2024, and only one family out of 2,000 families in 2025," the Foundation noted.
Bucharest currently has 1,175 social homes, but construction records are incomplete. Between 1996 and 2008, City Hall's General Investment Directorate kept no record of social housing built. From 2008 to 2014, only 242 apartments were added, and since 2014 no new units have been completed. A project for 114 apartments in Prelungirea Ghencea, started years ago, remains unfinished with no completion date, the cited source states.
The authors of Social Monitor argue that authorities must accelerate investment to address serious housing problems affecting 9.6% of Romania's population.
"Romania urgently needs public housing - both social units and homes for young people, doctors and teachers in rural areas. The 2022 - 2050 National Housing Strategy must be reformulated to include public housing as a strategic solution, especially as nearly 72,000 people live in 400 informal settlements with limited access to electricity and sanitation," the Foundation said.
Across Europe, social housing accounts for 6.6% of the housing stock in Poland and 0.8% in Lithuania, while in Western Europe the share ranges from 34.1% in the Netherlands to 10.9% in Finland.
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