Belarusian President Lukashenko confronts another challenge
In Belarus, the construction of new housing with state support is experiencing a decline, according to recent data. In the first half of 2025, the total area of housing built with state support was 352 thousand square metres, marking a 3.2% decrease compared to the same period in 2024.
Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko first raised the issue of constructing housing with state support in March 2024, expressing the need to change approaches due to certain difficulties encountered in the sector. This sentiment was echoed by President Alexander Lukashenko in June last year.
Despite these challenges, the government has been focusing on addressing housing needs, particularly for those in need of better living conditions. From January to May 2025, 248,800 square metres of housing were subsidized by the government. Furthermore, a significant portion of new housing is being delivered in rural communities, with 45% of the total housing commissioned in these areas during the same period.
The government has also been prioritising the provision of housing for people registered as needing better living conditions, with 409,500 square metres of housing commissioned for this group in the first half of the year. However, the construction pace of new housing with state support is slowing, with the construction of real estate specifically for beneficiaries remaining in the negative as of the first half of 2025.
Nationwide, a total of 1,084,500 square metres of residential area was built in the first half of the year, although the exact figures for housing construction without state support were not provided.
As Belarus continues to invest in housing construction with state support, the ongoing challenges highlighted by the decline in construction rates underscore the need for further attention and strategies to maintain the desired pace of housing development.
Investing in real-estate sector, the government has been attempting to address the decline in the construction of new housing with state support, as indicated by the 3.2% decrease in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. In the finance industry, the government has prioritized providing subsidies, with 248,800 square metres of housing subsidized from January to May 2025.
