RIGA, May 20 (LETA) - The government on Tuesday decided to increase the funding available for second stage construction or renovation of social housing by EUR 21.75 million.

This amount includes an additional EUR 18.487 million reallocated from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and EUR 3.263 million worth of municipal funds.

The total planned funding of EUR 60 million for the measure has been increased by more than EUR 21 million, most of which is earmarked to cover construction costs, which will boost construction of social housing, the Economics Ministry said.

The support measure is arranged in two rounds, with the first round supporting the renovation and conversion of groups of premises and buildings owned by local authorities, and the second round supporting the completion of unfinished new buildings and the construction of new residential buildings.

ERDF funding has been reallocated from the Economics Ministry's program "Improving environmental accessibility in apartment buildings by constructing lifts".

It is planned that the implementation of the measure will increase the capacity of new or renovated social housing to at least 1,952 persons, i.e., the maximum number of persons that can be accommodated in new or renovated social housing.