The town in north-eastern Lithuania is once again growing, but new residents are struggling to find housing – the last block of flats was completed here in 2008.
Born and raised in Utena, Aidas Tijūnėlis, like many Lithuanians, at one point moved from his native town to Vilnius. Less typically, however, after living there with his family for a while, he decided to return and open a dance studio.
Utena, the tenth biggest town in the country with a population of over 25,000 people, seemed like a suitable place for it because there was hardly any competition. However, Aidas faced another problem – he struggled to find a flat for the family to buy and settle in.
“We are a young family, we have a baby and we want something newly-built. The problem we had was that there was no housing. There were some older apartment buildings, but the weren’t any available flats. We decided that we’d rent and then build a house for ourselves,” Aidas tells LRT TV.
More and more people are moving to Utena, which lies some 90 kilometres north of Vilnius. But they all face the same problem, the shortage of new housing. The last apartment block in Utena was built in 2008.
The municipality has started looking for property developers to start building apartment blocks again. According to Utena Mayor Marijus Kaukėnas, public authorities are offering attractive locations and other incentives.
“This means that if a business comes up with the idea of building an apartment block, the municipality can contribute to improving the infrastructure. This includes access roads, connecting the plot to communications networks. So we are looking for ways to make the conditions better so that they will build here,” Kaukėnas says.
And property developers have responded. Two apartment blocks are currently under construction. Several more are planned.
The municipality promises to provide even more plots for development. According to Mayor Kaukėnas, it is necessary to take action as soon as possible – the town is building the Industrial Park which will employ several hundred workers. They will need to be housed somewhere.
“If people who work in our companies reside outside of Utena, come for work from other districts or towns, then their taxes also go to those districts. It is in our interest as a municipality that the employees of our companies settle here because of the future Industrial Park,” Kaukėnas insists.
Former residents of Utena have also decided to contribute to the town’s development. One of them, Dovydas Diktaras, is currently working for a construction company in Vilnius. After seeing the situation in Utena, he decided to invest in his hometown, building three apartment blocks and twenty-seven individual houses.
“Let me put it this way: one more apartment block in Vilnius is just another building, and for Utena it is both new opportunities and new investments into the town’s growth. Development, investment would create living space for young families and we found this very interesting and attractive. This is a tribute from my company, from myself, to the town where I grew up,” says Diktaras.
The municipality of Utena has pledged to purchase some units in the new blocks as social housing, which is also in short supply.
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