The number of flats owned by the Prague City Council and municipal districts was 29,841 in the middle of last year, 504 fewer than in July 2021. The municipal districts managed 22,612 flats and the City Council 7,229. That’s according to an updated analysis prepared by the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) and given to city councillors on Monday. The rate of decline in the number of municipal flats has fallen compared to previous years, but the aim of the municipality’s management has been to increase their number for several electoral periods.
The IPR started preparing the analysis of urban housing in 2019 and regularly updates it. Despite undeniable efforts and changes in the approach to housing issues, the municipal housing stock is still being reduced instead of increased, according to the current study. According to its authors, the reason for this is continued privatisation and the insufficient rate of increase in the number of flats. On the positive side, the study says, the decline is slowing down – between 2019 and 2021, the number of flats fell by about 2,000.
According to the study, the largest number of apartments is in Prague 2, 10 and 14. Their vacancy rate is 7.4 percent. “Municipal flats have a lower vacancy rate than flats managed by municipal districts,” the document reads. In the case of municipal districts, almost half of the flats are rented without a clear purpose and on the basis of an indefinite lease agreement, according to the study.
Municipal flats account for about 4.3 percent of the total stock in the metropolis, with 45 residents per municipal flat. According to the analysis, between 2021 and 2023, the City acquired 169 new units, 131 of which were municipal developments. Deputy Mayor Alexandra Udženija (ODS) said that the municipality is now, for example, completing the reconstruction of the former hotel in Opatov, where 272 flats will be added, and another 150 are to be added in the former residential hotel in Prague 9.
The municipality established the Prague Development Company (PDS), a contributory organisation, in the last parliamentary term to prepare the city’s land for housing construction. According to its representatives, the municipality wants to use the new flats primarily for social purposes or for housing representatives of professions essential to the city’s operation. In the next few years, according to the municipality’s representatives, up to 8,000 flats should be built on the land managed by PDS.
In recent years, Prague has been struggling with a housing crisis caused by high housing prices. After 1991, some 194,000 flats were transferred to the city, but the privatisations that followed reduced the city’s stock by 85 %.
Source: IPR and CTK
