The Municipality of Plovdiv has a separate shelter for the homeless and a centre for temporary accommodation of individuals and families. The homeless shelter and the centre accommodate homeless people and/or people in extremely poor living conditions (e.g. people at risk of poverty and social exclusion).
However, there are hundreds of people in the community who need social housing. They live in dwellings that do not meet the legal standards for housing construction and design, have no electricity connection and no access to drinking water or sewage. Some of the children of the large families have poor health and live in poverty and social exclusion.

In order to support homeless people, the Municipality of Plovdiv started the implementation of the project "Construction of Social Housing in the City of Plovdiv" in September 2020, co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund with financial support from the Operational Programme "Growing Regions 2014-2020".

To achieve the objectives of the project, a nine-storey housing block for the socially disadvantaged will be built, comprising 74 flats (40 one-bedroom, 22 two-bedroom, 8 two-bedroom and 4 four-bedroom flats) and 18 parking spaces as well as common ancillary rooms. The flats will be fully furnished. There will also be a lift for people with reduced mobility.

Between 124 and 200 poor and homeless residents of Plovdiv will live in a brand new housing block. The building will be located on Vladaya Street and over BGN 7 million, almost EUR 3.6 million, will be invested in its construction.

The beneficiaries of the project will be obliged to pay their bills, send their children to school and use the services of the employment office - jobs, retraining courses and more.  In addition, a social worker will be hired to help the project beneficiaries reintegrate into society.

The project could serve as an example for other cities, especially those struggling with housing inequality in their communities. Social housing is an important part of the affordable housing solution in many cities to provide affordable housing for socially disadvantaged and homeless people.

Cities that want to solve the problem of housing inequality are recommended to first map and identify the housing problems in their communities, design programmes adapted to the needs of their society and involve international organisations and experts to realise strategies and relevant projects.