Opinion
Homes for more people, but who goes first?
The 2027 social housing program expands significantly, to young people, students and returning emigrants. The expansion is welcome, but only if the families most in need are not pushed back in the line.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 26, 2026, 18:45 · Updated 18:41 · 2 min read
The Media and Information Agency announced on Monday that the social housing program for 2027 provides 4,000 loans to buy a home, half at 0% interest for apartments worth up to 60,000 euros and half at 3%, as well as 3,000 rentals in which the state covers 50%. Changes to the law aim to extend support to young people, students, newlyweds, professionals and those returning from emigration. The same day, the Municipality of Tirana announced about 1,500 new winners of soft loans.
The figures show ambition. According to the published data, since 2018 about 31,000 families have received housing support: 14,512 through rent subsidies, 7,290 through soft loans and 6,078 through help to improve living conditions. 2027 alone targets 7,000 loans and rentals. For a young person who sees rent eating up a paycheck, this is a concrete offer, not a slogan.
But the expansion carries a risk. When the program opens to professionals and young couples, competition for the same loans grows. Without clear rules, those with more complete paperwork and a salary that satisfies the bank could take the places of the low-income families for whom social housing was created. The program speaks of “criteria set by the program”; those criteria are still the heart of the question.
There are practical issues too. Tirana's winners must wait for approval by the Municipal Council and then go to the commercial banks that have agreements with the municipality; the amount depends on the number of family members. Every link is a place where a poor family can get stuck. And the announcement came from a government agency, not yet as an approved law; Parliament and the opposition have a duty to scrutinize it, not ignore it.
Our proposal: before applications open, the criteria and scoring should be published in full, with a guaranteed quota for families in need. Winners' lists should be published with their scores, without personal data, and the government should publish an independent assessment of the 31,000 cases since 2018: how many families kept their homes and what it cost.
