On 16-17 July 2026, Dr. Jolanta Aidukaitė, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, participated in the summer symposium “Eurasia as Global Risk: Nuclear, Security, and Borders”. The event took place at Hokkaido University in Japan. At the symposium, Dr. Jolanta Aidukaitė delivered a presentation entitled “The State of Housing Rights in Lithuania: a Strive for Home Ownership”, in which she discussed the importance of housing in social policy, housing-related problems in Lithuania, and the accessibility of social housing.
According to the researcher, housing policy in Lithuania seeks to promote home ownership by subsidising young families purchasing their first home. At the same time, it aims to support people who cannot secure housing independently in the private housing market. They receive support through social housing or housing rent compensation payments.
Dr. Jolanta Aidukaitė describes Lithuania’s housing system as dualistic, giving priority to home ownership, while social housing is stigmatised and provided only to the most vulnerable people. The researcher points out that owning a home without a loan and without having to pay any property taxes can provide a significant degree of social security.
The researcher also notes that social benefits provided to vulnerable people contribute to their social security. Social housing users often evaluate the services provided to them positively. Nevertheless, the high level of home ownership may lead to increasing housing inequality in the future. People who are unable to purchase or inherit a home may remain on the margins of the housing sector – in the insecure private rental sector or in stigmatised social housing.
Dr. Jolanta Aidukaitė’s presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/w1TdI7ar58w?si=WukmlNPXFvU_mSyA&t=51
Symposium program:
https://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/sympo/2026summer/index.html
Photos by the symposium organizers.
