A part of an extended family whose home was damaged in last year's devastating floods have become the first to accept the keys to their new home almost a year after the disaster, thanks to a private donation.

Courtesy of 41 private donors headed by Pergola, a low-energy prefab home maker, the new house was handed over to the Stropnik family in Slovenj Gradec in the north of the country at a ceremony on 23 July.

About 350 homes in 23 municipalities have been slated for demolition after being damaged beyond repair or made unsafe in the August 2023 floods and landslides, two of which in Slovenj Gradec.

However, valuation and red tape are still being tackled as part of the government efforts to provide state-supported replacement housing.

Those affected can choose between a state-funded replacement home to be built on a new location, financial compensation, or purchasing a replacement property with support from the state.

Those eligible for replacement homes will be able to pick between 12 different housing units solutions, selected by the Ministry for Solidarity-Based Future in a tender.

Official statements indicate that the construction of replacement housing could begin in the second half of the year.

The plot for the Stropnik family's new home was provided by the Slovenj Gradec municipality, which first had to transfer it to the state in a swap arrangement.

The family will in turn pay the state just over €70,000 for the land from the compensation it will receive based on the appraised value of the home it had to abandon.

The new home is large enough to accommodate just the young four-member Stropnik family, but not the grandparents they lived with in the home that is no longer deemed habitable.

The older Stropink couple will use the remainder of the compensation to build a small house of their own, Stanko Stropnik said.

"Today, I'm happy, but I hadn't been for a year. This is taking too long," he said. He and his wife have found a plot to build a house, but being farmland this is not yet possible.

Addressing the ceremony, Stanko Stropnik and his daughter, who is moving into the donated house with her family, thanked everyone who contributed to them getting a new home.

Gratitude was also expressed by Prime Minister Robert Golob, who said it might take more time and patience so that Slovenia should await the next flood better prepared.