New homes on horizon for 449 IDP families

Hundreds of Georgian people displaced by conflict and violence and were forced to live in sub-standard collective centres will be gifted apartments in their name for the symbolic price of one GEL.

At a Governmental meeting today, authorities agreed 449 internally displaced families who lived in poor conditions throughout the country would soon be gifted apartments in a private ownership scheme.

The new living facilities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) would be fitted out to suit people with disabilities.

In Tbilisi, 191 IDP families will receive housing, while the remaining 258 families will be offered housing in other parts of the country.

The Government-led rehousing project launched on November 1, 2014 and will continue for 10 months.

A 2013 United Nations survey revealed many IDP collective centres did not meet adequate living standards. To get IDPs into adequate housing, the Georgian Government purchased more than 1,500 houses. These will soon be gifted to eligible families in Georgia’s regional areas.

According to the United Nations Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) there were up to 206,600 IDPs registered by in Georgia at the end of 2013.

About 45 percent of IDP’s lived in collective centres. Of this, the majority of housing (70 percent) did not meet minimum shelter standards, lack adequate privacy, lack access to water, proper insulation and functional sewage systems, stated the Gap analysis of the UN Refugee Agency.