Žatec will sell 51 flats in a prefabricated house on a housing estate built in the late 1990s. The councillors approved the sale plan, which the town hall has been discussing with tenants for about three years. The price is lower than the market price, but the owners have to agree and repair the building within a certain period of time.
There are 72 flats and one non-residential space in the block of flats on Dr. Václav Kůrka Street. The unsold or unsaleable flats will remain the property of the city. “Nothing will change for tenants who have the opportunity to buy an apartment but do not do so. They will continue to pay rent in the city flats, they will just no longer have the right of first refusal,” the mayor said. Apartments where the tenant is a legal entity and apartments involved in the social housing project would remain the property of the city.
The two sides have long been unable to agree on the price for the flats and its calculation, or on the terms of a possible sale. Now, according to the mayor, it seems that a compromise could be found on the price, based on an updated expert’s report, and on the conditions, which are being negotiated by the legal representatives of both parties. Once the sales are completed, it is expected that a unit owners’ association will be formed, with the city as one of the owners. The HOA will then jointly decide when and what repairs or investments need to be made.
The price of the 1+1 flats is CZK 26.7 per square metre, which is approximately CZK 439,000. The owner of this apartment would contribute CZK 445,000 to the reconstruction. The usual price for an apartment of this category in Žatec is CZK 1 million. The price of a 3+1 apartment is 24.3 crowns per square meter, which is approximately 800,000 crowns per apartment. The owner would spend approximately CZK 966,000 on repairs to the building. The usual price for such an apartment in the city is about two million crowns.
Žatec received a state subsidy of CZK 23 million for the construction of the block of flats, and for twenty years the town could not sell the flats.
Source: CTK
