Residents in the center complain about problems with short-term rentals. Prague is striving to regulate this type of accommodation
The Chamber of Deputies has a proposal from the Prague City Council to regulate short-term rents through Airbnb-type services. It is on the agenda of the current meeting, but it is not clear whether Members will get to it. According to the municipality, short-term accommodation services include depopulating the city center, increasing housing costs and being accompanied by problems in rental apartments. Therefore, Prague 1 has already established a contact point for its inhabitants.
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“We’ve all started to feel what it means to live in a hotel,” says Pavel Marc, chairman of the community of unit owners. Therefore, they installed a fingerprint reader in the house near Masaryk Railway Station before the pandemic. “It’s as simple as a mobile phone, the green light is on, the door opens. We still have a backup solution, a numeric keypad next door. But we definitely don’t give numerical codes to tourists. “
Magda Janíková, a resident of a house near Dlouhá Street, is also facing problems. The house accommodates young tourists who come for nightlife. Her husband was even attacked by tourists under the influence as she tried to calm down at night. “My husband had a torn lip, a caught eye, and I found that my daughter had seen it all. She just stood there with the stuffed animal and we called the police again. Now that I say that, I don’t really understand why we live here. “
Residents of Prague 1 can contact the contact point, details are on the website chcisevkliduvyspat.cz. Bronislava Sitár Baboráková, a representative from the YES movement and chairwoman of the Committee against Depopulation of the Center, says that she is dealing with six specific cases:
According to her, it is necessary to change the laws. The option should be to prohibit or license short-term rentals in certain neighborhoods. The latest analysis of the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague showed that 7,000 flats were offered via the Airbnb service in the summer.