Dwellings, Slovenia, 1 January 2018

Two thirds of the population of Slovenia resides in one- or two-dwelling buildings

On 1 January 2018 there were 852,200 dwellings in Slovenia, 680,000 of them were occupied. The majority of the population (65.8%) lived in one- or two-dwelling buildings (houses), 30.6% lived in multi-dwelling buildings, while the rest (3.6%) lived in collective living quarters or in other types of housing units. 


The quality of the occupied dwellings is gradually improving over the years

This is reflected in the fact that fewer inhabitants live in dwellings without one or more elements of basic infrastructure (bathroom, toilet, electricity, water in the apartment, central or district heating). In 2011 the share was 15.5% of the population and in 2018 14.1%.
In Slovenia in all periods more one- or two-dwelling buildings were built than three or more dwelling buildings. This is especially evident in recent years, as after 2010, 70% of new dwellings (17,000) were built in houses and only 30% (7,100) in multi-dwelling buildings. Dwellings have more and more rooms: among dwellings built up to 1970, there were around 30% with four and more rooms, and among newly built dwellings almost 60%.

Most of the dwellings owned by employees (48%) and pensioners (43%)

More than 80% of the dwellings were owner-occupied. The rented dwellings accounted for 7.7% and the user dwellings for 11.5%. User dwellings are dwellings in which none of the inhabitants is the owner, and at the same time the dwelling is not rented. Owners of such dwellings may be relatives, friends or other natural persons. Owners may also be deceased relatives, where inheritance procedures and entries into official records have not yet been completed.

The vast majority of rental dwellings (90%) are located in three or more dwelling buildings. There is a noticeable downward trend in the number of rented dwellings. The number of market rental dwellings is decreasing (from 16,800 in 2011 to 12,800 in 2018) as well as the number of non-profit rental dwellings (from 45,400 in 2011 to 39,800 in 2018). The number of dwellings owned by public sector legal entities decreased from 36,100 in 2011 to 33,400 in 2018. 
 
  
 
The majority of dwellings (92%) were owned by natural persons. Most of the dwellings were owned by employed persons (48%) and pensioners (43%). Public sector legal entities owned 5.4% of the dwellings, while the remainder (2.6%) was owned by private companies and other owners. 
In 115,900 dwellings only residents aged 65 years or more were living. In more than half of those dwellings only one person was living. The number of such dwellings has been increasing compared to the previous censuses: in 2011 there were 64,600 and in 2018 already 74,800 such dwellings. 
  

 
There were up to 172,200 unoccupied dwellings, of which 20,000 were dwellings for seasonal or secondary use

The number of unoccupied dwellings did not exceed 172,200. The number represents the ceiling, since it is possible that certain dwellings are officially uninhabited, because the residents did not register for various reasons. More than half of the unoccupied dwellings were either old (built before 1945) or were without one or more elements of basic infrastructure (toilet, bathroom, heating, electricity, plumbing) or were intended for seasonal or secondary use. There were about 20,000 dwellings for seasonal or secondary use (holiday homes). Municipalities with the most holiday homes were tourist municipalities (Piran, Kranjska Gora, Bohinj), and municipalities in wine-growing districts (Črnomelj, Trebnje, Novo mesto).

The data also show that on 1 January 2018 there were about 10,000 houses built after 1945 which have all elements of basic infrastructure (water, electricity, heating, bathroom, toilet) among one- or two-dwelling houses, but they are without an address number. If the owner of such (officially unoccupied) house is registered in an older house in the immediate vicinity, we can conclude that these are newer houses that have been built in the vicinity and that are probably inhabited. For all the above reasons, the number of empty dwellings represents the ceiling.

Municipalities with the highest share of empty dwellings (excluding holiday homes) are Cirkulane (42%), Zavrč (39%), and Osilnica (37%). If we look at the share of all unoccupied dwellings (including holiday homes), the highest ranked are municipalities Kostel (52%), Bovec (51%) and Kranjska Gora (49%). Detailed information is in the attachment. It is interesting to note that even in Ljubljana the number of empty dwellings increased from 22,300 (17.8%) in 2011 to 24,400 (19.0%) in 2018. In the lack of rental housing, this suggests that some of these dwelling are likely rented in the short term or they are rented without reporting the tenancy. Most of these dwellings (83%) are owned by natural persons.