Program dostupného bydlení není pro Prahu použitelný, řekl Hřib

Prague – Prague will ask the state to adjust the conditions of the subsidy program, in which municipalities can apply for funds to build affordable housing. Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) said in an interview with ČTK that the current conditions are set in such a way that the program is essentially unusable for the metropolis, even though the housing crisis is the most intense in Prague. In recent years, Prague has been struggling with rapidly rising housing prices.

According to the mayor, the problems with the program called Construction for Municipalities, which has been operating for the third year, are mainly twofold. On one hand, the subsidy of 35,000 crowns per square meter is low in Prague's conditions, but the main issue is the condition that people must pay rent of only 65 crowns per square meter in the constructed apartments. This is an unrealistically low amount for Prague, Hřib stated.

He added that the Prague leadership will also want to address other issues with the future government, such as transport constructions, the state contribution promised by the current government for the planned construction of a new philharmonic orchestra at Vltavská, or legislative adjustments to strengthen the competencies of self-governments. "There will be more ministries that we will have to visit," the mayor said.

Municipal rental apartments serve people in social need, seniors, single mothers, people with disabilities, or members of professions vital to the city. However, Prague has very few of its own apartments. According to a 2018 analysis by KPMG, 194,000 apartments transitioned to the ownership of Prague after 1991, but the municipal fund has since declined to less than a fifth of that number due to privatizations. According to the strategy approved in the spring, Prague aims to build 500 municipal apartments each year by 2030.

In the Construction for Municipalities program, the Ministry for Regional Development reported applications for about 700 million crowns this year, according to August information. There has also been ongoing discussion about the necessity of approving a separate law for affordable housing, but the government has not yet prepared it. The ČSSD introduced its own proposal last year, but the Chamber of Deputies has not yet debated it.