Prague is preparing 1000 new apartments in three projects

Prague - Three residential building projects being prepared by the city hall of the capital are set to provide up to 1,000 apartments within 2.5 years. Prague is expected to pay 2.2 billion crowns for them. Radek Lacko (ANO), the councilor for housing, told ČTK today. Prague owns about one percent of the residential stock in the capital.

In Černý Most, the construction of a residential building is expected to bring around 200 apartments. The city hall is working with an older version of the project, which has been adjusted to meet today's requirements. "Earlier, it was done as small apartments, but Prague has a surplus of those, so we changed it to larger apartments 4+1, 3+1, 2+1," Lacko told ČTK. The city wants to offer part of the apartments for market rental, while planning to reserve other apartments for preferred professions, such as doctors, police officers, firefighters, or teachers. The estimated construction costs are 860 million crowns.

Additionally, the capital is preparing a project in Dolní Počernice, where around 500 new city apartments are to be developed for less than one billion crowns. Prague already has a building permit for these two projects, and the third project could obtain one early next year. This involves the reconstruction of an empty high-rise building in Opatov, which is expected to contain 300 apartments. Prague should pay approximately 400 million crowns for the complete renovation of the building.

Part of the costs for the projects is expected to be covered by funds from the Affordable Housing Development Fund, which Prague established in 2015. The city deposits money from privatization into the fund, which currently holds about three billion crowns.

"Prague has actually sold all its development areas concerning construction plots, so it has very little maneuvering space to build on its own," Lacko told ČTK. According to the councilor, the previous policy was such that everyone should solve their housing situation themselves, and the city did not invest in the construction of new apartments for 15 years. According to Lacko, massive construction should take place in the capital, for which favorable conditions need to be created. He considers favorable building regulations and state assistance to be crucial for supporting construction.