New builds in Latvia still come without bomb-shelter basements
New low-rent housing developments in Valmiera, Latvia, are being constructed without basements to cut costs and meet strict budget requirements. Developers are now exploring the expensive possibility of retrofitting existing older buildings to serve as emergency shelters during crises.
Why it matters
This highlights the tension between affordable housing mandates and the growing need for civil defense infrastructure in Eastern Europe.
Last year, two low-rent housing blocks were put into operation in Valmiera, which has strong demand for new housing. Currently, both buildings are fully occupied and the new block is bustling every day. Yet these five-storey blocks do not have basements. So, in a time of crisis, residents need to think about another place to take refuge. Residents were not keen to talk about the topic, but admitted that they would not want to pay more in rent for the inclusion of a basement. Andris Kabraks, the project developer and chairman of the board of the company "Valmieras namsaimnieks", explained: "We deliberately didn't go for a basement construction there because we were participating in a programme called "Low-Rent Residential Homes." So we had to calculate every single euro so that we could qualify for that programme and so that we could cover our loan obligations with rental income."
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