ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact of housing reforms on the emerging housing market in Bulgaria. It provides a brief overview of policy measures and newly defined institutional roles and responsibilities. The chapter outlines briefly the most significant characteristics defining these experiences and the direction of change in the housing market with a particular focus on housing supply, polarization in the tenure structure and affordability constraints. A nation of home owners', with a legacy of high private ownership of housing under communism, Bulgaria offers some unique insights into the operation of housing markets. Recognizing the existing constraints for the efficient operation of the market, the Government aims at developing an adequate financial and institutional framework. The new housing policy will be guided by several goals: to stop the processes of deterioration in the housing stock; to create feasible market mechanisms for provision of affordable housing; and to implement an institutional and housing finance reform.
