Prague must want social flats from developers, we will break it in Žižkov – A2larm
“The most extreme moment came when we stopped the privatization of city flats and several hundred people roared at the council,” Zábranský recalls of the moment that occurred after the coalition rift with the United Forces for Prague. “We had a program that we would stop privatization, the city could no longer get rid of its own flats, but then we found out that the United Forces expected to privatize what was promised. In the end, we agreed on a compromise, it stopped at eight hundred apartments. At four hundred, the process was already at an advanced stage, and so it was completed. All those who roared came for a really great opportunity, I fully understand them. Someone had promised them those apartments for fifteen years. But now we are in a different situation and the company has a different view on privatization, “explains the youngest Prague councilor.
Since he took office in Prague, seven hundred flats have been rented out, mostly as social flats. Although the Prague housing stock is too small after years of privatization to be able to influence the size of the housing crisis. But the city can accommodate at least several hundred households a year in its flats. The rules for their occupation have therefore been reconfigured so that people in housing need can obtain them.
Tenants of city apartments? People in need, but also judges and businessmen
“The city used to pretend to run social housing, when we changed the method of allocating flats and started connecting tenants and social workers to keep the flats. Those people are often bad and need support, “says Zábranský. In addition to the socially disadvantaged, members of supported professions, such as police officers or teachers, also receive flats from the city fund. However, according to the pirate councilor’s family with children living in hostels, the elderly and the mentally ill are a priority. “Demand is higher, of course, and since we started focusing on the most vulnerable, demand is eight times more. Some will never get there, some will come out in a few months. “
The number of flats could be higher, more city districts would cooperate with the municipality, most of them are in the area of property. However, some still see renting only as business. “Therefore, they have the opportunity to apply for subsidies for the reconstruction of flats that lie fallow. For example, Prague 3 and 10 often ask, but there are also parts that think purely economically. We also combined the subsidies with the fact that the city will occupy the reconstructed flats for ten years. But this, in turn, raises concerns for some of whom we will “give” them there. “
In addition, tenants who have contracts for an indefinite period remain in almost half of the flats. “They often live on terribly low rents. There are judges, prosecutors and businessmen among them, which in our opinion is not fair, but there is nothing you can do about it, “says Zábranský, according to whom the city will not get enough to rent the costs needed for maintenance. “Only a minority of tenants of city apartments are people in need. If you look at their contracts, you will find on them as reasons for their display things like “alternative housing, exchange of flats” – it is not clear at all whether the person needed it or not, but we are gradually resetting it, “ensure Zábranský that the allocation of city flats used to be often determined by the friendly relations of some Praguers with politics and politics. According to him, city flats were privatized in a non-transparent way. “That’s why the criminal proceedings are underway today.”
New Prague districts. Who will live in them?
The second part of the podcast is about affordable housing – about flats for large sections of the population, for which the market price is also high today. The construction of several new districts under the direction of large development companies is planned in Prague. “I am definitely in favor of the developers wanting to acquire part of the apartments owned by the city. But now we are in a state where we have several years of negotiations on these matters, which have measured other goals. To have greenery, schools, kindergartens and so on. The space for us to talk about apartments now is quite drastically reduced. It’s too late. But for example, in the new district of Žižkov, I think this is possible and I will definitely try. The city must break this taboo, it is standard practice in the West. “
In the podcast, Zábranský also says that if new districts are built in Prague and the number of flats increases, the pressure for growth will decrease. Or that they don’t believe in the effectiveness of rent capping. The Czech Statistical Office will provide data on the number in the city this year as a problem to consider empty flats. After that, according to him, the problem of empty flats should begin to be solved.
Listen to more in the first part of the new podcast Bulvár about today’s cities, which are being prepared by Táňa Zabloudilová, Apolena Rychlíková and Alžběta Medková.