The leadership of Prague is still unclear about the establishment of a single building authority

Prague - The Prague coalition of the Pirates, United Forces for Prague (TOP 09, STAN, KDU-ČSL), and Prague to Itself is still unclear regarding the establishment of a single building authority to handle larger projects. Currently, there are 22 offices in the metropolis, one in each administrative district. Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček and Councilor Hana Marvanová (both from United Forces) told reporters today that they will advocate for a unified office. However, the leader of Prague to Itself, Jan Čižinský, told ČTK that he approaches the idea with caution. ČTK is obtaining a statement from Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates). In recent years, apartment prices in Prague have risen significantly.

"We see it as a priority that it is necessary to speed up the approval of buildings," Marvanová stated today. The establishment of a single building authority should aid this effort. United Forces included this step in their pre-election program, and the coalition agreement states that the city leadership will examine it.

Marvanová mentioned today that, according to the United Forces' vision, other building authorities should not be abolished, as they would continue to handle smaller projects. The large ones, where city-wide connections must be taken into account and whose discussion is often beyond the capacity of small office clerks, would go to the newly established institution. A similar system operated in the metropolis until 2003, and its implementation would not require changing the law, just the statute of the capital city, which the council can do.

However, the coalition would first need to agree on this, which could be complicated. The leader of Prague to Itself, Čižinský, told ČTK that his movement approaches the plan cautiously. He is not pleased, for example, that the appellate authority for the "large" office would be the Ministry for Regional Development. "Where the appellate authority is the ministry, it usually means more slowing down than speeding up," he stated. He added that the priority should be improving and speeding up the work of officials.

Hlaváček, the deputy mayor, agrees with this and plans to strengthen the relevant departments of the city hall. According to Marvanová, the idea of a single office will first need to be discussed within the coalition, but also with the city districts and the opposition. A commission for amending the statute of the capital city should be established.

In recent years, Prague has been facing a housing crisis due to low construction and high housing prices. The new coalition has set solving this problem as a priority. According to an analysis by the city's Institute of Planning and Development (IPR), prices of new apartments in Prague rose by 11 percent year-on-year as of September this year, and 4,737 new units are expected to be approved this year.