Flats with fewer square meters but more rooms would be an ideal solution for many people interested in housing. Smaller flats could reduce the financial unaffordability of housing. Apartment seekers would save money on purchase or rent, on utilities to run larger spaces, and at the same time be able to afford the layouts they most desire. Experts from across the construction spectrum agreed at a recent discussion on the future of rental housing in the Czech Republic. But some said only older flats could be redeveloped in this way. Developers and current legislation prevent the construction of new flats with similar parameters.
However, according to Adam Greguš, an analyst at developer JRD Real Estate, Czechs are demanding flats with larger layouts for various reasons. However, they are more expensive and less available. According to experts, the ideal solution would be to build flats with 3+KK rooms or more, but with fewer square metres. “According to my estimates, 60 to 70 per cent of Prague’s housing stock consists of flats with a layout of 3+KK or more. In the last five to ten years, developers have been building mainly 1+KK and 2+KK layouts. We are therefore looking at making sure that the projects we want to make available for rent are easily transformable by architects and that the housing stock is both efficient and useful,” Greguš said at last week.
Erika Bohatá, an architect at Capexus, which designs building interiors, also confirmed the trend of downsizing apartments. “It’s always about clever interior design. You can design a lot of hidden storage spaces. An apartment of 50 square metres can be 3+KK,” said Bohatá.
Also according to Martin Němec, architect and co-founder of ADNS architects, it is possible to convert smaller apartments into units with an added number of living rooms. However, these would have to be older end units, such as corner flats that have two or three facades facing multiple cardinal points. “A colleague in our ADNS architects studio has a current experience with a flat conversion, where a family realised a flat from 2+1 to 3+KK size in the end position of an old panel house. The size of the apartment is only 56 square meters. However, the apartment has no storage space and no closet,” said Němec. However, he added that new construction of smaller apartments with more rooms is currently not entirely realistic. It is prevented by the requirements of developers and the conditions set out in the building law, according to which it would create only uncoordinated units.
“For a 3+KK apartment, the living room must have a minimum area of 16 square metres, a bedroom for two people must have 12 square metres and a room for one person must have eight square metres. The minimum width of the room shall be 3.30 metres. At the same time, the daylighting requirement for each room must be met, which defines whether a room can be considered habitable. In the above example, the living room is only 15 square metres, which would, however, be contrary to the law in the construction of a new dwelling,” Nemec added.
According to the latest data from analyst firm Deloitte, the average price of an apartment in the Czech Republic was CZK 93,300 per square metre and the rent CZK 272 per square metre. The most expensive flats are in Prague, where sellers are asking an average of CZK 156,000 per square metre and CZK 373 per square metre for rent. On the other hand, it is cheapest to live in the Ústí nad Labem region.
Source: CTK
