Residential construction starts in the first quarter of 2019 hit their highest level in ten years. But market observers say the fact that work began on 10,000 units between January and March across the country is not necessarily a trend, according to idnes.cz. “I don’t think this is a sign that construction has been unblocked,” said Pavel Kliment of KPMG. “Objectively speaking, the conditions aren’t there for it. Quarterly results tend to be very sensitive to fluctuation, which can be the result of a large project receiving planning approval.”
But the numbers do displaying improvement in Prague, with nearly 2,000 flats begun in the last two quarters. “After the dramatic fall in new residential construction in 2016 when construction offices issued permits for just 2,758 units, we can observe a positive trend,” said Marek Vacha, spokesman for the city’s Institute of Planning and Development (IPR). He said similar numbers are needed in the coming months, in view of Prague’s growing population. IPR has estimated that 1.4 million people will live in the Czech capital by 2030. Finep’s spokesman David Jirušek, however, was blunt about his company’s view. “Nothing can be read into the numbers because thanks to the force of bureaucracy, administration and bad legislation, the whole process of preparing projects takes a horrendous 10 years.”
