Over-priced flats in the city of Prague has become a hot political issue that some local politicians are using to call for the construction of publicly owned rental flats. The daily newspaper Denik warns that while such projects are tempting, it’s easy for them to go wrong. It uses a project by Prague 11, which had the developer Sekyra Group build Zahrady Opatov, a 194-unit project near the Opatov metro station. The municipality intended to lease the flats out to young families in order to keep them from moving to locations with cheaper accommodations. Although the project received its use permits two years ago, the flats have only been put on the market this year and the rent for a “partially furnished” 2-bedroom unit, including parking, is around CZK 20,000. “Partially furnished”, according to Denik, is how the agency renting the flats for Prague 11 describes flats where the kitchens are not completed and not all flooring has been installed. Opposition leaders in Prague 11 claim the municipality bought a project that was designed during the pre-crisis era that doesn’t meet the needs of consumers in 2018.
