In Prague, the number of inhabitants is increasing, the metropolis does not have time to build apartments for them
The forecast results from the strategic plan of the capital city, currently the most important document, which outlined the vision according to which the municipality wants to direct the development of Prague in the coming decades.
More Praguers
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If proven correct, the growing population will create a demand for 82,400 yet-to-be-built apartments by 2030.
In order to satisfy it, between 2016 and 2030, an average of 5,500 new Prague apartments should be built annually.
Construction is too slow in the metropolis
Such a pace of construction is very far from the current situation in Prague.
“In the last five years, only less than 4,300 apartments were completed on average each year,” says Marek Vácha from the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR), who prepared an extensive analysis of housing and the real estate market in Prague for the municipality. The document is intended to serve the city in deciding on the future direction of housing policy.
Looking at last year’s numbers, one might think that the situation has improved rapidly, as 6,092 apartments were completed in 2016, but a closer examination shows that this is not the case. Another figure is also important – the number of apartments that are under development and started construction in a given year. And last year there were even half as many as the year before – only 2,758.
“This will probably further deepen the deficit in the supply of new apartments, which, among other things, results in a significant increase in housing prices,” reads the IPR analysis.
The city’s hope for the construction of a larger number of new apartments is represented by brownfields, i.e. development areas of former industrial enterprises or railway stations. Their problem is often that a construction ban is imposed on them.
The metropolitan plan should remove many of them here, but it will not be ready before 2022. Therefore, Prague is processing zoning documentation for several selected brownfields and it is possible that they will approve them even before the new zoning plan comes into effect.
These special studies are supposed to enable even in places with a construction ban and to clearly establish what can be built in them.
“The territorial study in Satalice will most likely be completed first. The result will also be known for the area of Rohanské ostrov in the summer, and in the advanced stadium there is also a study for the transformation area of Ruzyně,” said the deputy mayor. Petra Kolínská (Triple Coalition).
Studies should also follow for other locations, for example for the former freight stations Bubny-Zátory or Žižkov.
New houses built in old buildings
In addition to brownfields, vacant spaces where houses used to stand or which have not been built on for a long time, often since the First Republic, offer space for new development within Prague.
“There are a number of such plots in the city, but until recently they were at a disadvantage, because it was not easy to comply with the standards for direct daylight or distance from other buildings,” says Vácha.
The prices of apartments and rents in Prague are still rising
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However, this was changed by the new Prague building regulations approved last year, which eased many of these restrictions. The earlier decree recorded more modernist construction, such as the housing estates around Prague.
The new regulations are now more towards a compact city, common in districts such as Dejvice, Vinohrady or Letná.
“However, we have to prepare, as is the case with projects and construction. In the capital, these processes take a very long time. It will take a few more years before the change takes effect and more construction begins in the gaps,” adds Vácha.
Complicated and often unpredictable zoning and building regulations are, after all, IPR analyzes what hinders the acceleration of apartment construction the most.
From the beginning of the project to the time the first tenants move in, it normally takes five to eight years in Prague.
“As a result, it may happen that new apartments are completed at a time when there are already completely different conditions in the residential market,” the document continues. After all, this is what most developers have been complaining about for years.
But it’s not just about new buildings. Prague has a considerable reserve elsewhere. Part of the IPR analysis was the mapping of unused real estate, for which the institute used the database of the Empty Houses project.
Empty buildings could become thousands of apartments
The survey subsequently revealed that there are currently about two hundred empty multi-storey buildings in Prague. If they were all converted into apartment blocks, they could provide up to 6,500 apartments. By themselves, they will not satisfy the demand for apartments until 2030, but they could help bridge the critical period.
The second benefit would, of course, be the meaningful use of often dilapidated buildings. However, most of these buildings are not owned by the city or city districts. So if Prague wants to contribute to their conversion into apartment buildings, it will have to come up with some way to convince their owners to take such a step.
The largest apartment building in the Czech Republic was built in Prague: