Almost one in five people in Latvia spends more than 31% of their monthly income on utility bills, and the majority of Latvia's population are dissatisfied with their housing, according to a survey of Latvian residents carried out by the property developer "Merko mājas" and "Norstat". Rising utility costs are increasingly shaping how people rate their housing and their decisions about buying a new property. Housing running costs have become one of the decisive factors both in judging whether their current home is suitable and in choosing which property to favour in future.

High utility bills and housing quality – closely linked challenges

Dissatisfaction with housing is most often not the result of a single factor, but of several interrelated problems. The "Merko mājas" survey shows that the majority of Latvia's population (67%) are dissatisfied with their home. The main reasons given are an old building of poor construction quality (24%), high utility bills (23%) and less floor space than needed (24%). These results point to a direct link between the technical condition of a building and the cost of running it – the lower a building's energy efficiency, the heavier the day-to-day financial burden on its residents. The question of utility bills is therefore often not a separate problem, but a direct consequence of housing quality.

"A substantial share – almost 70% – of Latvia's housing stock still consists of standard Soviet-era blocks of flats, and most of them are approaching the end of their service life or need renovation, particularly energy efficiency improvements. Most people in Latvia live in such buildings, which means that energy efficiency is becoming not only a matter for individual households but a national challenge and a broad one for urban development. For property developers, this means thinking not only about constructing new, energy-efficient buildings, but also about optimising their total life-cycle costs. That is precisely where we see our responsibility – to develop projects that help residents reduce their day-to-day expenses over the long term and provide greater stability. We are already introducing solutions in our projects that cut running costs. For example, "Arena Garden Towers" is the first multi-apartment building project developed by "Merko mājas" in which we have installed energy thermal piles that use ground energy to heat and cool the building. In other projects, meanwhile, we use solar panels to cover part of the energy consumption of communal areas," says Roberts Rēboks, member of the board of "Merko mājas".

Utility bills "eat up" a significant share of people's income

Housing payments and utility bills make up a substantial part of a household's monthly budget and often become one of the largest regular expenses, directly affecting people's ability to cover other everyday spending and to build up savings for the future.

The survey data show that almost one in five people in Latvia pays 20-30% of their monthly income in rent or mortgage payments, while for 15% these payments exceed 31% of their income.

The picture is harsher when it comes to utility bills, which "eat up" a large share of people's income. The survey results show that almost one in five (18%) spends more than 31% of their monthly income on utility bills. There are no significant differences between age groups overall, although this financial burden is most common among people aged 60 to 74 (27%) and in the 40-49 age group (19%). Overall, the largest share – around a third of the population – sets aside 10-20% of their monthly income for utility bills, while the smallest share, 15%, say that utility bills do not exceed a tenth of their income.

Roberts Rēboks explains that "rising housing costs are also significantly changing people's priorities. The majority of Latvia's population (85%) say that lower utility bills and housing running costs are one of the most important factors when choosing a new property, ahead of criteria such as location, infrastructure and lifestyle aspects like a sense of community, proximity to water or a family-friendly environment. Taken together, the survey data show that housing running costs in many households are already approaching the level at which they begin to have a significant effect on everyday finances. It is therefore no surprise that, when choosing a new home, people increasingly weigh up not only the purchase price of the property but also the total cost of living in it over the long term."

* The survey was carried out in March 2026 by the market research company "Norstat Latvija" on behalf of "Merko mājas", and involved 1007 respondents aged 18 to 74 from across Latvia.