Housing plan
Description of the action and objectives
Green Deal action
Reykjavík's Housing Plan outlines the main goals for residential development in the city and addresses population forecasts, housing needs, and service availability, such as nursing wards, preschools and primary schools. The plan describes lot allocation schedules and reports on development agreements for various districts, as well as commitments and declarations of intent for allocating and selling building rights. The plan explains funding for housing initiatives, the construction of affordable housing, and partnerships with housing associations that build on a nonprofit basis. The plan discusses Félagsbústaðir Social Housing's purchasing plans and development of social housing, including for people with disabilities, older adults and homeless people. The plan also covers projects aimed at making housing development more environmentally friendly and reducing the carbon footprint.
The Housing Plan defines the main components of the housing development process and tracks its progress from start to finish. The process is tracked from future and development areas in the municipal plan, through the land-use planning process, advertisement of development plans and approval and publication in the B section of the official gazette, to buildable lots, approved building plans, homes under construction, and finally completed homes. For the past several years, the Housing Plan has been updated annually in the fall, and presented at the mayor's annual meeting on residential development. In recent years, a transition has been underway to the Housing and Construction Authority's new planning system, so the plan is now partially published there as well. The goal is that the plan will be published in only one location in the future. Progress on the Housing Plan is also tracked through quarterly reports, which are presented to the City Executive Council and available to the public on Reykjavík City's website: https://reykjavik.is/en/housing
Implementation period
Planned completion in the second half of 2025
Status report on July 1, 2025
The mayor's housing forum titled "Building a City for People" was held at Reykjavík City Hall on March 28, 2025. A recording of the well-attended meeting is available here: https://reykjavik.is/en/dwellings
In May 2025, the Housing Plan 2025-2034 was approved and published. The Housing Plan can be found here: https://reykjavik.is/en/housing/housing-plans
The digital version of the Housing Plan was approved on June 5 and submitted to the Housing and Construction Authority.
Older status reports
| Timeline | Progress description | |
| July 2024 | In March 2024, the Housing Plan 2024-2033 was reapproved and published (previously approved in December 2023). A digital version was approved simultaneously and submitted to the Housing and Construction Authority. Increased collaboration on data coordination and improved accessibility has been a priority both between Reykjavík City departments and between national and city governments. | |
| January 2024 |
The 2024-2033 Housing Plan was developed and approved by the City Executive Council on December 21, 2023. Work has begun on a digital version of the 2024 Housing Plan with the Housing and Construction Authority. Additionally, work started on the quarterly review of the housing plan for the second and third quarters, but due to a lack of data from the Building Commissioner related to technical difficulties with the City's new information management system, Hlaðan, the reviews could not be published. The annual housing publication came out in November 2023, and the Mayor’s annual housing meeting was held on November 17. The City’s dialogue with the Housing and Construction Authority continues, concerning analyses, data sharing, and coordination to improve the quality and accessibility of information, such as in the housing development map viewer. |
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| July 2023 | The annual housing plan review is underway and will be presented in November 2023. | |
| January 2023 | The population of Reykjavík increased by 4,229 in 2022, reaching 139,928 residents as of January 1, 2023. The increase was spread across the year: 1,295 additional residents in the fourth quarter, 1,551 in the third quarter, 1,113 in the second, and 270 in the first quarter. During the year, construction was completed on 1,034 dwellings, with about 39% (408 dwellings) being classified as affordable or social housing. According to Reykjavík's Building Commissioner, 1,062 dwellings were registered as completed during the year, compared to 1,252 dwellings in 2021. The Building Commissioner approved plans for the construction of 773 dwellings in the year, split across quarters: 268 in the first, 175 in the second, 90 in the third, and 240 in the last quarter. Additionally, the Building Commissioner approved plans for the construction of 105 student dwellings. Construction started on 913 dwellings in 2022: 265 in the first quarter, 177 in the second, and 242 in the fourth. Reykjavík City allotted plots for the construction of 728 dwellings during the year: 164 dwellings in the first quarter, 345 in the second, 14 in the third, and 205 in the fourth. This allocation was supplemented by contracts for the construction of plots where up to 1,006 dwellings could be built. Thereof, the contract had 619 dwellings in the first quarter, 344 in the second, and 43 in the fourth. At the end of 2022, 2,478 dwellings were under construction in Reykjavík, compared to 2,484 by the end of the third quarter, 2,536 by the end of the second quarter, and 2,448 at the end of the first quarter. In order to fulfill the housing agreement of Reykjavík, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Housing and Construction Authority dated January 5, 2023, the City pledged to always have sufficient plots ready for the construction of 1,500 to 3,000 dwellings. By the end of 2022, there were ready-to-build plots available to construct 2,119 dwellings. |
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| July 2022 | Reykjavík's population grew by 1,383 in the first half of 2022, including by 1,113 in the second quarter. So far in 2022, 532 new apartments have entered the Reykjavík housing market, of which 362 in the first quarter and 170 in the second quarter. The Building Commissioner has approved the intention to build 443 apartments, of which 268 are in the first quarter and 175 in the second quarter. Construction of 442 apartments began in the first half of 2022, of which 265 began in the first quarter and 177 in the second. Reykjavík City allocated plots for the construction of approximately 500 apartments on seven sites in the first half of the year, of which approximately 160 were in the first quarter and nearly 350 in the second quarter. The City also made construction contracts on five sites where about 960 apartments can be built, of which nearly 620 were in the first quarter and approximately 340 in the second quarter. |
Reykjavík City departments:
Related actions
Economic objectives
- 1. Responsible financial management | Green Deal The City's Financial Policy is based on sustainability, stability, predictability, and transparency.
- 2. Dense and mixed development | Green Deal Denser, mixed housing with neighborhood sustainability at its core.
- 3. New employment opportunities of the future | Green Deal Future job opportunities will be based on knowledge, innovation, and sustainability.
- 4. A favorable environment for business and innovation | Green Deal Good land use, diverse economy, and premises for all types of companies of all sizes.