Designing a new rental housing law for Romania

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the outcome of a research program carried out by the Austrian IIBW to support the Romanian Government in redesigning its national housing law in order to cope with specific problems on the Romanian housing market, such as the absence of tenure choice and affordable and tenuresecure rental housing. Design/methodology/approach – Specific housing problems and requirements of legal changes were identified by policy makers and in previous studies. Solutions are provided by an international team of experts with the target to include European best practice concerning rental and limitedprofit rental law. Findings – This paper concentrates on three major topics within the restructuring of the Romanian housing law that permit integrating European best practice in the field of housing policy. First, Romanian rental housing legislation is reconsidered and a marketbased relative price control based on the German experience and on written contracts is proposed. Second, a new publicprivatepartnership (PPP) housing law, building on the framework of PPP social housing providers in Europe, and especially Austria, is considered. A rigid frame of checks and balances and public compensation of social service obligations are core elements. Third, special attention is paid to the compliance of proposed measures with European Union legislation on competition, which is of major importance for any legal recommendations to be applicable. Practical implications – The proposed legal changes are designed to foster the development of a functional longterm private and social rental market in order to meet the housing needs of the Romanian population. Originality/value – The overarching research program this paper builds on was commissioned by the Romanian Government and was intended to address specific and current problems on the Romanian housing market.