If the balcony of an apartment building in Vilnius falls, it warns about buying new apartments: you will not be able to pay, you will have to renovate

“Our large housing stock, built in 1960-1980, has already passed its warranty period and they are sensitive. Not only balconies, but also pipes, other engineering. This means that it is time to start with the maintenance that companies need to do. maintenance of the home, not formally, but in fact. This means that the residents of those old apartment buildings will incur additional costs “, says the architect in the exhibition” Delfi diena “.

“The broccoli comes out, they are more cosmetic so far, which means the building doesn’t collapse,” he adds.

According to the architect, it is difficult to say if the buildings under construction now in 25 years will not cause any problems.

“I think the problem with the new buildings is minor. A bigger problem with the old apartment buildings is that they are mostly inhabited by economically inactive older people. Without the support of the state, it will be difficult to address. Or the apartment buildings will be they will renovate more massively or the buildings will be abandoned ”, thinks L. Rekevičius.

However, he points out that taking care of the security of the home is an inescapable responsibility of the owners, and this last event will be the impetus to start doing it: “We must accept that the item will wear out and will need additional financing. It has to do with when the houses are built. They all have the end of the warranty period. “

Balcony glazing is a problem

Eglė Šlajūtė, head of the Housing Administration Department of the Vilnius City Municipality, says there are around 2,000 balconies in a possible emergency situation in the capital. The municipality provides financial support and encourages apartment building owners to manage them. According to E. Šlajūtė, about 600 balconies have already been arranged, about 700 thousand. euros. It costs more in the old town, in total, about 3-5 thousand. euros.

According to E. Šlajūtė, the building does not become an emergency during the day, therefore the managers need to conduct inspections, identify defects, provide plans to the owners, plan the work so that it does not become a big financial burden more ahead.

Still, he says, inspections sometimes fail because of the residents themselves.

“When the inspections are carried out, most of the owners do not enter the apartments. Sometimes defects are not visible from the outside and can only be introduced by a court decision, ”explains E. Šlajūtė.

According to her, with respect to the last case in the capital, it should be noted that the project did not foresee glazed balconies, and today they are glazed. “There is a greenhouse effect, corrosion. That partition did not hold and fell,” says the interlocutor.

She urges homeowners to be more conscientious and more involved in managing their apartment building.

“The owners must understand that this is their property, they have to contribute to the maintenance, not to the municipality,” says E. Šlajūtė in the “Delfi diena” program.