Municipal districts in Prague have vacant apartments in poor condition, they are renovating them

Prague – The municipal districts of Prague have dozens or hundreds of unoccupied rental apartments that are in poor condition and awaiting repairs. This was stated to ČTK by the spokespeople of the town halls. Further renovations of the apartments are carried out by local governments when tenants are replaced. The municipal districts in Prague manage approximately 23,000 apartments, while the city hall is responsible for another 7,000. These apartments are primarily used for social purposes and for housing supported professions in the city.

According to spokesman Aleš Berný, Prague 4 currently has 230 of nearly 2,000 apartments that are uninhabitable. "The municipal district has allocated 40 million crowns for the repair of housing units within its economic activities for the year 2025," added the deputy mayor of the fourth municipal district, Jan Hušbauer (ANO). He mentioned that the town hall repairs dozens of apartments each year.

Prague 2 has the same amount of unoccupied apartments waiting for reconstruction, managing about 3,000 units. "This year, the town hall plans to repair a total of 140 apartments, of which 90 will undergo complete reconstruction. In this regard, the municipal district expects costs of around 80 million crowns," stated town hall spokeswoman Andrea Zoulová. She added that Prague 2 also plans to create 25 apartments by modifying unused attic spaces by the year 2030.

Prague 6 currently has about fifty unused apartments, which, according to deputy mayor Petr Prokop (STAN), are planned to be repaired this year. Prague 10 has about 70 such units. "We plan to repair or reconstruct all of them, with the completion of 25 apartments expected in 2025 at an estimated cost of about 30 million crowns," stated the spokesman for the tenth municipal district, Jan Bruno Tropp.

Prague 8 also has dozens of apartments in unsatisfactory condition, and according to spokesman Martin Šalek, they plan to reconstruct them within two to three years. "In the near future, we would like to submit an application for a grant for the reconstruction of the first batch of 31 apartments. We want to take advantage of the current grant program from the State Fund for the Support of Investments, which offers municipalities reasonable financing for repairs of their housing stock," said the spokesman. He noted that, considering the condition of the apartments in panel buildings, repair costs are around one million crowns per apartment.

Prague 1 has about fifty apartments to be repaired out of a total of 1,086 units, stated spokeswoman Karolína Šnejdarová. Prague 14, according to spokeswoman Veronika Berné, has recorded 20 such apartments and plans to repair all of them this year, estimating the costs at half a million crowns per apartment. The municipal district intends to obtain funding from the city hall's fund designated for housing development.

In addition, town halls carry out minor renovations during tenant replacements in apartments. "Typically, around 50 apartments are repaired in this way each year," noted the deputy mayor of Prague 7, Kamil Vavřinec Mareš (Praha Sobě). According to councilor Jiří Dohnal (Pirates), Prague 11 repairs about 20 of the total 1,351 apartments this way each year, of which five to seven are completely renovated.

In recent years, Prague has been struggling with a housing crisis due to high housing prices. Privatization after 1991 reduced the city housing stock by more than 80 percent, from the original number of about 194,000 apartments to the current 30,000. The city hall leadership aims to increase the number of apartments again to secure affordable housing for people in difficult social situations or representatives of essential professions for the functioning of the metropolis. Local town halls make decisions about the apartments entrusted to them, and they also build their own new projects.