Selective Compliance with Minimum Housing Standards in Newly Built Apartments in a Post-Socialist Context: Evidence from Niš, Serbia

In post-socialist countries, the transition from state-controlled housing provision to market-driven residential development has significantly reshaped urban housing production. This transformation has introduced new development dynamics associated with increasing pressures toward economic efficiency and affordability, which may influence the implementation of spatial standards. In this context, this paper examines the extent to which newly built apartments comply with national minimum housing standards in Serbia. The study is based on an empirical dataset comprising 31 multifamily housing projects and 1155 apartment units designed in Niš in the period from January 2024 to April 2025. Each apartment is classified according to its typology and analysed in relation to the minimum floor area prescribed by national regulations. The results reveal a selective pattern of compliance, with the lowest levels observed in two-room apartments, which represent the dominant segment of housing production. This suggests that spatial optimization may be most pronounced in the lower segment of medium-sized dwellings, where dominant housing typologies and regulatory thresholds converge. The findings are interpreted within the framework of post-socialist housing transition, highlighting the uneven relationship between regulatory standards and contemporary housing production patterns.