Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has pointed out the municipality’s commitment to supporting residents facing housing difficulties, saying that the city has active programs to assist both socially vulnerable citizens and those officially recognized as homeless.
Speaking on the situation involving residents of 1 Tvalchrelidze Street, Kaladze said the municipality had offered rental assistance but the offer was declined.
“The municipality offers to provide rent to citizens who are registered in Tbilisi and have a housing problem. This offer was made to families but we received a written refusal from them,” Kaladze said. He emphasized that such programs are to ensure temporary housing while longer-term solutions are arranged.
Kaladze also pointed to a second municipal program providing permanent housing for families with homeless status. “By the end of the year, we will have 400 families with municipal housing,” he said. However, he noted that to qualify, applicants must first obtain official homeless status.
The mayor clarified that those who own property elsewhere in Georgia do not qualify for municipal housing simply because they prefer to live in Tbilisi. “If a person has land plots in the region, a house, but wants to live in Tbilisi, no one will finance it for this reason and purpose,” Kaladze stated.