RIGA, April 23 (LETA) - In the first quarter of this year, the number of housing benefit recipients in Riga increased by 21 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, while the municipal funds spent for this purpose grew by 59 percent, the press office of Riga City Council informed LETA.

To compensate households with lower incomes for the increase in their expenses due to the prolonged cold spell at the beginning of the year, the coefficients for calculating housing benefits were temporarily increased until April 30, thereby increasing the number of people entitled to municipal support.

This year, Riga plans to spend EUR 19,994,970 on housing benefits. EUR 5,697,597, or 28 percent of the planned annual amount, was spent on housing benefits in the first three months of this year.

The local government says that because of the increased coefficients, it is not possible to establish exactly by how much the number of benefit recipients has increased.

In January this year, Riga spent EUR 1,556,191 on housing benefits, which were provided to 9,613 recipients. The average benefit was EUR 161.88.

In February, EUR 1,818,000 was paid out in housing benefits to 9,908 recipients, and the average benefit increased to EUR 183.49.

In March, a total of EUR 2,323,406 was spent on benefits for 10,456 recipients. The average amount spent per benefit was EUR 222.21.

By April 17, the local government had allocated EUR 1,329,757 for housing benefits, of which EUR 1,331,292 had been paid out to 8,396 recipients. The average benefit was EUR 159.

This year, the Riga Social Service has received a total of 15,364 applications for housing benefits or recalculations for the previous three months.

On February 28 this year, amendments to the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance entered into force, stipulating that from January 1 to April 30, an increased coefficient is applied to the guaranteed minimum income threshold for the calculation of housing benefits.