Prague threatens to be a city only for the rich. 30,000 flats are already missing
The number of apartments that are missing in the capital is still higher. Three years ago, experts estimated this number at 20 thousand apartments. This year, due to the slow pace of construction, which has been going on for years, the number has risen another ten thousand higher, Ondřej Boháč, director of the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague (IPR), told the Business News List.
“We would need to build at least 8 to 9 thousand apartments every year. We are currently about halfway through. As a result, the shortage of flats in Prague continues to grow every year. Currently, up to 30,000 flats are missing, “said Boháč.
In the interview, he compared the speed of Prague’s construction with the pace in the main Polish metropolis.
For comparison – Warsaw, for example, has approved over one hundred thousand apartments in the past five years or so.
“For comparison – Warsaw, for example, has approved over a hundred thousand flats in the past five years, we are about a third in the same period, perhaps even less. The shortage is desperate and the city’s ability to act is very limited precisely because in Prague the state really decides more than the city itself, “said the director of IPR.
Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague
The organization is the main conceptual workplace in Prague in the field of architecture, urban planning and city design and cooperates on important decisions in these areas.
The institute processes and coordinates documents in the field of strategic and territorial planning and development or public space and documents of transport, technical, landscape and economic infrastructure.
The current director is Ondřej Boháč.
Czechia, open-air museum of slow construction
According to him, a change in the building law and, above all, a clear definition of competencies in city planning could help, which would subsequently shorten the processes surrounding construction.
The processes, which last 60 days in Warsaw, have been with us for several years.
“We live in an open-air museum, all the states around us are allowing faster and easier, so they are trying to speed up there due to global housing pressures. For us, it is an absolutely unbeatable thing, because the processes that take 60 days in Warsaw have been with us for several years, “added Ondřej Boháč.
And because housing prices are rising so fast and demand for housing exceeds supply, the situation on the real estate market in Prague could in the future put pressure on lower-income Praguers, for whom the costs in the metropolis will be unbearable. According to the director of IPR, this problem is threatened mainly by lower-income professions, and Prague could thus become a city only for the rich.
“Prague will always be attractive and people will move here. However, there is a danger that more and more groups of the population will be selected. Some people who do not tighten the costs of Prague will be forced to leave. Today, rich and poor people still live side by side, and this is a positive value for the metropolis. But that may soon change and Prague will be a city for the rich, “said Ondřej Boháč.
Prague will build apartments for teachers and police officers
For this reason, the municipality plans to resume the construction of city rental apartments. Already in May this year, the councilor of the capital approved a manual according to which municipal apartments will be built. But the result will not be seen next year, says Boháč.
“We want the share of rental housing to increase, because it is a way to keep the necessary professions in Prague, such as teachers, paramedics or police officers. They need to have a chance to live directly in the city, and not far behind it due to high housing costs, “says Ondřej Boháč in an interview with SZ Byzny.
However, new housing owned by the city is currently being built. During the entire period 2011–2018, only 472 municipal flats were completed in the territory of Prague.
In 2019, the city managed about thirty thousand flats, which is approximately 5 percent of the total number of housing units in the capital.
In terms of one municipal apartment, there were 42 inhabitants in Prague.
In other European capitals this number is significantly lower, for example in Zurich or Vienna it is less than 10 inhabitants. Compared to Prague, Brno also maintained more flats, with one municipal flat per 13 inhabitants.
This year, the situation has not improved compared to 2019, quite the opposite. According to Boháč, the city districts continue to sell municipal flats and the stocks of the housing stock have decreased by another approximately two thousand flats in the last three years.
“It is necessary to set clear rules in this context, because it is not possible to sell out the housing stock. On the contrary, we have to keep apartments for rental housing, especially for professions that need to be maintained in the city, “Boháč added.
The construction of Prague municipal flats, which are to be used primarily for rental housing, will be arranged by the Prague Development Company (PDS), which currently has approximately three hundred housing units in its preparation plans.
The PDS was handed over to the management of more than 400,000 m 2 by a decision of the Prague City Council2 land owned by the metropolis, which is expected to build 6,000 to 8,000 apartments over a 10-year period.
Overview of PDS projects:
Apartment house Vršovická, Prague 10
- 100-140 city rental apartments + retail units on the ground floor of the building.
In Botany, Prague 5
- City block with 45-60 housing units and services on the ground floor.
Ládví, Prague 8
- Experimental project of modular housing construction with preservation of parking capacities in a locality with up to 40 city rental apartments.
Apartment house Palmovka – Zenklova, Prague 8
- Multifunctional house with 50 city rental apartments and areas for retail and administration.
Apartment house Nový Zlíchov, Prague 5
- Smaller project with about 30 apartments.
Na Hutích – kindergarten, Prague 14
- Construction of civic amenities, necessary action for further development of a larger area.
Source: Portal of the Capital City of Prague