The builders began constructing 619 apartments in January, which is 90% more year-on-year

Prague - Builders in the Czech Republic started the construction of 619 apartments in residential buildings in January, which is an increase of 89.9% year-on-year. The extraordinary increase was partly due to the initiation of the Prague project Výhledy Barrandov by Ekospol, which began building 269 apartments. The number of initiated family house constructions increased by 5.7% year-on-year. Nearly a third of them are in the Central Bohemian Region. This follows from today’s data from the Czech Statistical Office.

The largest share of newly started residential building constructions belongs to Prague. At the end of last year, it accounted for 57.7%, and at the end of January, it was 62.7%. Following at a distance are the Hradec Králové (14.2%) and Plzeň (11.8%) regions.

In Prague, 388 apartments in residential buildings were started in January, an increase of 91.1% year-on-year. In the project Výhledy Barrandov, BAK construction company started building 269 apartments for Ekospol.

Developers are complaining about the slow approval of new constructions. "Even the significant increase in construction starts in January does not address the ongoing problem of the disproportion between the large number of sold apartments and the slow permitting of new constructions in Prague by some districts," said, for example, the spokesperson of Central Group, Marcela Fialková.

The complicated and lengthy approval of new constructions was also pointed out by the CEO of Ekospol, Evžen Korec. "Construction permits are issued more quickly even in many developing countries in Africa. If this legislative confusion in the Czech Republic does not change soon, residential construction could, despite the continuously growing demand, also decline," he stated.

The number of newly started family houses in January increased by 5.7% year-on-year to 802. The largest share was in the Central Bohemian Region (29.4%), followed by the South Moravian (12.3%), South Bohemian (10.8%), and Moravian-Silesian regions (10.2%). The proportion of Prague was just under three percent. "Family houses are being built more in smaller towns. The reason is unequivocally the land prices," stated the chairman of the board of Trigema, Marcel Soural.

Together with other categories, such as extensions, infills, and guesthouses, companies and individuals started building 1,881 apartments in January, which is an increase of 35.9% year-on-year. "While the started apartments increased by more than a third, it is important to realize that in January last year, the index was only at 70 percent of the average," stated the president of the Association of Entrepreneurs in Construction in the Czech Republic, Václav Matyáš. Compared to the record January of 2008, newly started apartments were down by 44.4%.