Brno wants to allocate ten social apartments, it currently has 155

Brno - Brno wants to increase the number of social apartments by about ten by the end of February next year. The deputy mayor responsible for housing policy, Oliver Pospíšil (ČSSD), told ČTK. The city currently has 155 social apartments, of which 85 are used for the Rapid Re-housing and Housing-first projects initiated by the previous coalition to eradicate homelessness.

Brno's city council designated an apartment on Václavská street as social at a reduced rent of 58.30 CZK per square meter per month. Typically, the rent is higher and in some parts of the city, it can reach around a hundred crowns per square meter.

The tenant will be an existing client of the hostel on Francouzská street operated by the city. "At Francouzská, we have transitional housing. There is a hostel, and when someone proves themselves, they can be assigned a social apartment," said Pospíšil. When the social situation improves and the tenant has secured a job and income, their rent can later be increased to the usual price, or they may be moved to another apartment at a standard rate.

According to Pospíšil, the city wants to allocate about ten apartments for proven clients from transitional housing by the end of February next year. "We will do it gradually. We will allocate apartments at different addresses. The goal is not to concentrate social apartments in one place; there is always a tendency to have some of their share within the city's apartment buildings," said Pospíšil.

Brno had several dozen social apartments. During the past electoral term, their number increased due to pilot projects aimed at eradicating homelessness, initially among families with children in need, and possibly later among individuals. The projects were introduced by Žít Brno, which is no longer part of the council after the October elections. The new coalition of ODS, KDU-ČSL, Pirates, and ČSSD will evaluate the projects and then decide how to proceed with them. While the coalition is inclined to eliminate homelessness among families, it is not as supportive regarding homelessness among individuals.

The city manages about 29,000 apartments. This is roughly 15 percent of the total housing stock in Brno. The rest is privately owned.