The Saeima Commission on State Administration and Local Governments supported amendments to the law "On Housing Assistance" that will allow municipalities to provide temporary housing to residents of closed multi-apartment buildings for up to five years. The deputies agreed to consider the bill urgently. Now the final decision must be made by the Saeima. Currently, legislation allows local governments to provide people with temporary housing for no more than one year. However, in practice, this period often proves insufficient if the house requires major restoration. The amendments provide an exception for cases where the operation of a multi-apartment building or part of it is completely terminated, and restoration objectively takes more time. Assistance can then be provided until residents return to their apartments, but for a maximum of five years. For those affected, this means they will not be left without municipal support simply because repairs have been delayed. Restoring severely damaged houses often involves technical expertise, project development, securing funding, conducting procurement, and the construction work itself, which can take several years. The need to amend the law became particularly evident after the explosion in a residential building on Bauskas Street 15 in Riga, which occurred on January 2, 2026. At that time, the upper floors and roof of the building were destroyed due to an illegally damaged gas pipeline. Residents were evacuated, several people were injured, and two died. The authors of the bill believe that the new provisions will ensure people have more stable living conditions during the restoration of their homes. The annotation notes that such situations occur relatively rarely, so additional costs for municipalities will be limited. Thus, the changes are intended to close a gap in the legislation where the period for providing temporary housing ended long before the completion of the house's restoration.
