Against this backdrop, the government of Latvia has decided to revise Cabinet Document No. 809 dated November 30, 2010 – "Regulations on Assessing the Material Situation of Households and Receiving Social Assistance." More precisely – to write new Regulations, as a result of 8 meetings of a special working group (Ministry of Welfare, Union of Local Governments of Latvia, social services), more than 50% of their provisions have been amended. "The goal is to improve the assessment of the material situation of households, social assistance benefits, and the procedure for assigning the status of needy or low-income households, ensuring clear and uniform regulation." ## A Softer Approach to People Particularly important in the context of the man-made housing crisis created by the state and the capital is housing assistance. Regarding this aid, the working group has "identified many problems." "The current regulation in certain aspects is incomplete and requires clarification." In particular, social services still had too many opportunities to deny benefits, citing the lack of so-called "cooperation" from clients. Now a more flexible approach is promised: "When determining obligations, it is necessary to take into account the individual capabilities of the client, the situation, and proportionality, particularly assessing situations, for example, if a person is caring for a child, is of retirement age, or has a disability. The obligations of cooperation are defined reasonably and purposefully, avoiding a formal approach to their application." It is also important to stipulate that temporary payments made to the low-income are not considered income. In particular, the programs "Darba izmēģinājums" (temporary employment) and "Studētgods" (social scholarship for students) have been excluded from consideration. In general, point 4.1 of the new Regulations lists a total of 26 types of income that are not considered permanent: these include insurance compensation, compensation for blood donation, and even such a complex construct as "income from renting out real estate owned by a child, if there is a decision from the orphan court regarding the protection of the child's property rights." Households remain low-income if their members have received loans for education, compensation to a victim in a criminal process, childbirth benefits, and death benefits. ## About Third Parties and Garden Houses In the annotation prepared by the specialists of the Ministry of Welfare, another fairly common reason for denying benefits is outlined: "In practice, it has been noted that in cases where the housing costs of a household are fully or partially covered by third parties, such support is often considered income, although it is essentially intended to cover specific expenses. This concerns situations when a person first approaches a social service and indicates that in the previous period, housing costs were covered by a third party, or the social service notes in the client's account report that funds are credited to the account indicating payment for housing expenses and are actually fully spent for these purposes." Now such transfers from relatives and close ones will not be considered income. Similarly, the presence of a so-called dacha – that is, most often, a wooden structure built in the previous socio-economic formation on several hundred square meters of land – previously served as an obstacle to receiving benefits. As noted in the Ministry of Welfare: "The criterion of seasonal use applied when assessing a garden house is difficult to objectively verify." Therefore, along with "types of income that are not considered income," the new Regulations specify "types of property that are not considered property." These include, by the way: - The only real estate of the household or its part where the applicant is registered; - Land ownership not exceeding 5 hectares, as well as functional agricultural buildings belonging to this real estate; - Property owned by a child. As property that does not hinder the receipt of benefits, "a vehicle with a total mass not exceeding 3,500 kilograms, including no more than one passenger car in the household, as well as necessary agricultural machinery" is now also considered. "If there are two or more children in the household or a person who has been issued a medical certificate for a special adaptation of a passenger car and receiving benefits for compensation of transport costs, no more than two passenger cars." ## Land and Freedom It should be noted, on our part, that in drafting the new Regulations, their authors did not define, whether consciously or out of misunderstanding, what to consider "land ownership." The mere fact of having a plot, of course, does not make a person wealthy – fertile lands in the Jelgava and Bauska regions are currently valued at quite moderate 13-16 thousand euros per hectare. And, selling their 5 hectares, a person is unlikely to be able to buy anything better in Riga than an apartment in a panel house from the era of planned economy. Forest plots are already more expensive – in the range of 25 thousand, depending on nearby transport arteries. However, for example, in the Marupe region, the cost of 1 hectare for construction is estimated at 50,000 euros. Speaking of the capital, Riga prices range from 300,000 to 1,000,000 euros, depending on the allowed volume of construction and the availability of communications. Therefore, it is very strange that when determining the land that subsidized households are allowed to have, its potential value has not been taken into account – as well as whether it is cultivated. However, it is likely that in the office of Rainis Uzulnieks (Union of Greens and Farmers), they simply decided to subtly support their electoral base in this way.