<p>Support for the construction of affordable housing has been requested by 92 projects for CZK 5.1 billion.</p>

Meander Znojmo

 
Prague – A total of 92 projects applied for financial support for the construction of affordable rental housing. The total support is expected to amount to 5.1 billion crowns, of which 3.2 billion is allocated for favorable loans and 1.9 billion for one-time grants. This funding is expected to create nearly 1500 rental apartments. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) stated this at a press conference today. An amount of seven billion crowns has been allocated for the affordable housing program until 2026. Fiala expects that 2000 apartments could be created by next year.

Of the submitted applications, 84 percent already have building permits. "The government has very quickly launched investment and support tools that are enabling the construction and preparation of more apartments for the middle class, young families, teachers, or healthcare workers. The high interest from applicants shows that we have managed to initiate a support system for construction that will be sustainable in the long term and gradually increase the availability of housing in the Czech Republic," said the Prime Minister.

Support for affordable housing from the State Fund for Housing Development (SFPI) is aimed at the construction of rental apartments and can be used for new buildings, building modifications, or extensions. Part of the funds can be immediately used for a maximum of 40 percent of costs if specific requirements are met. Subsequently, a subsidized loan of up to 65 percent of the project price can be granted, with the base EU rate for the Czech Republic reduced by up to three percentage points. In total, grants and favorable loans could cover up to 90 percent of the investment. The repayment period is up to 30 years, and early repayment is without fees. Legal entities and territorial self-governing units can apply for support.

Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) stated that he views the current support as a "starting round" and that the calls for applications will be repeated. If it turns out that additional funds will be needed for the construction of affordable rental housing, the government would discuss increasing the resources. According to him, there is currently no need for that.

Former Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates), before his dismissal due to issues with the digitalization of the building permit process and the departure of the Pirates from the government, requested an increase in funds for the construction of municipal rental apartments in the planned budget for 2025. Stanjura then stated that his department is ready to release funds once the projects for the construction of affordable housing are submitted.

According to Fiala, housing in the Czech Republic is a long-standing problem that troubles citizens. The program, which was developed under former Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates), should primarily target municipalities, but private entities can also apply. According to data from the SFPI, which is available to the Czech News Agency, municipalities in the Czech Republic today build only a small percentage of new apartments. Most projects are secured by private investors, which, according to the fund, leads over time to an insufficient supply of municipal housing stocks, high rental prices, and further worsens the availability of housing.

The fund's project titled OBEC ON has identified over 1000 rental housing projects with a total volume of 165 billion crowns through regional SFPI centers. This is expected to result in more than 50,000 new apartments to be built by 2030. Data comes from statistics of the regional SFPI centers, which conducted over 2300 consultations in 1638 municipalities across all regions of the Czech Republic last year. Currently, according to the SFPI, more than 500 projects with building permits are being prepared under the Affordable Rental Housing program to be completed by the end of 2025, with a total of 9500 apartments and an estimated volume of 27.7 billion crowns. This is four times the amount from the allocated open call.

The largest project requesting support for the construction of affordable rental housing is, according to information provided by the Ministry of Regional Development, the Meander Residence in Znojmo. Two apartment buildings with a total of 97 affordable rental apartments should be built here. The private company Meandr Green Building is requesting support of 237 million crowns, of which 84 million would be a one-time grant and 153 million would be provided as a favorable loan. Smaller projects with a maximum of a few dozen apartments are also applying for support in Čáslav in Central Bohemia, Olomouc, Ostrava, in the municipality of Tichá in the Moravian-Silesian Region, or in Vratěnín in the South Moravian Region.

Development of Completed Apartment Construction

Development of Completed Apartment Construction	2023	2022	2021
Total Completed Apartment Construction	38,067	39,460	34,581
Completed Apartments in Apartment Buildings	14,208	14,203	10,973
Apartments Completed by Public Investor	420	199	342
Share of Public Investors	1.1%	0.5%	1.0%