The town hall of the city of Hradec Králové selected the future tenants of about 30 starter flats for young people by public lottery on Monday this week. There were 313 people interested in the flats, where they pay discounted rent, announced by the town hall. The city of about 90,000 people now has 125 starter apartments. A tenant can occupy an apartment for a maximum of three years, after which City Hall will put the apartments into a lottery.
The first batch of tenants drawn will be able to move into the first 16 apartments in July or August. The others will move into approximately 14 flats as the existing tenants gradually move out of the flats. The number of flats will therefore still be subject to change. In total, the municipality drew 36 applicants today, including substitutes.
“Starter housing is one of the ways to help young people at least a little in their current housing situation. So far we have 16 flats available, and we would like to gradually release more by the end of this year. Probably even with an overlap into next year,” said Deputy Mayor for Property Management Pavel Vrbický (Piráti).
The flats are 1 + kk and 2 + kk in size. More people are interested in two-room flats, which was also confirmed this year.
Those interested in starter flats have to meet a number of conditions. They must be under 32 years of age, must not own a residential property in the city, but must reside or work in the city. The applicant must also not owe any debt to the city or city agencies and must have been employed for more than six months prior to applying. Nine applicants out of the original 322 did not meet the conditions this year.
The rent in the starter flats is CZK 90 per square metre per month. According to www.cenovamapa.eu, the market rent in Hradec Králové is between CZK 150 and 200 per square metre.
By offering starter flats, the town hall is trying to keep young people in the town, such as students out of school, and attract new residents. Initially, the City Hall acquired 172 new flats for the starter housing programme between 2007 and 2010 at various locations in the city. In 2012, it decided that some of them would be occupied by seniors.
Source: Hradec Králové and CTK
