MMR gives another six billion CZK to support affordable rental housing

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Mariánské Lázně – The Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) will offer an additional six billion crowns to support affordable rental housing. The seven billion crowns that municipalities could have received starting in 2024 were quickly exhausted. According to Minister for Regional Development Zuzana Mrázová (ANO), six billion crowns were found in operational programs where there was a surplus. Municipalities and cities could start applying for the funds likely at the beginning of next year, Mrázová said today at the National Network of Healthy Cities conference in Mariánské Lázně.

"We managed to find another six billion for new projects or for those that were unsuccessful in the affordable rental housing program through the reallocation of the Integrated Regional Operational Program and within the framework of the Operational Program for Just Transformation so that they could be supported precisely from these operational programs," stated Mrázová.

The rules for accessing the funds should be similar to those of the affordable rental housing support. Projects must be prepared for a building permit, and support will be partly in the form of a grant and partly in the form of a subsidized loan.

"Within the Operational Program for Just Transformation for Karlovy Vary, Ústí nad Labem, and Moravian-Silesian Regions, we currently have about three billion CZK negotiated with the European Commission. In the Integrated Regional Operational Program for Prague, there is one billion crowns. For the remaining regions, it is about 1.7 or 1.8 billion," specified the minister.

According to Daniel Ryšávka, director of the State Fund for Investment Support, through which the grants for affordable rental housing are provided, municipalities have intentions in various stages of preparation amounting to 40 billion or perhaps even more. This figure comes from the fund's inquiries among municipalities at the time the grant program for rental housing support was opened. However, not all municipalities had intentions finalized. The increase of six billion crowns will thus particularly help those that submitted requests but did not receive funding. "Many of them will certainly already have announced a public tender for the contractor, so we are indeed talking not about intentions, but about projects that are ready for immediate implementation," added Mrázová.

According to Ryšávka, the program could support the construction of about 2,500 apartments. However, the need for new residential construction is significantly higher. As Minister Mrázová said today, the government would like to see 50,000 apartments built annually within five years, of which 10,000 would come through public investors, cities, municipalities, or regions.