ALTUM-backed affordable rental housing gains momentum across Latvia’s regions

Latvia’s state development institution ALTUM is accelerating the rollout of affordable rental housing across regional cities, with more than 500 apartments already under construction or at advanced development stages in 2025, backed by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility.

One of the latest projects was approved in Liepāja, where developer HAGBERG secured €15.2 million in ALTUM financing for a 140-apartment affordable rental housing project. Total investment reaches €16.7 million, with construction planned to start in summer 2026 and completion expected within 14 months. Apartment allocation will be administered by the local municipality.

At the same time, several projects approved earlier under the same programme are already moving into delivery:

Valmiera — one of the first cities to implement the scheme, with around 120 apartments nearing completion in 2025 and additional buildings under construction.

Bauska — a low-rent housing project of roughly 60 apartments, currently in active development.

Tukums — a smaller-scale project focused on municipal rental demand.

Jelgava and Ventspils — projects approved with ALTUM co-financing, expanding the programme’s geographic reach beyond Pierīga.

Financing is provided through ALTUM’s low-rent housing loan scheme with capital rebate, combining EU funds, state-backed loans, and developer co-financing. Municipalities are responsible for tenant selection and waiting lists under nationally defined eligibility rules.

Context:

The programme marks a structural shift in Latvia’s housing policy — from fragmented municipal initiatives to a state-backed regional rental pipeline aimed at labour retention, affordability, and long-term urban resilience outside Riga. For Baltic observers, the scale and speed of rollout in 2025 suggest that affordable rental housing has become a permanent policy instrument rather than a one-off recovery measure.

Image: photos/photo_121@17-12-2025_13-46-28.jpg