In Česká Lípa, 149 municipal apartments have been completed, no more are planned

Česká Lípa - In Česká Lípa, construction of 149 apartments in the Lada housing estate has been completed, funded by a state grant. The interest in the apartments was four times greater than what the city could satisfy, as new apartments are rarely built in the city of forty thousand. Nevertheless, the city is not planning any further apartment construction in the near future, said city spokesperson Kateřina Amrichová today.
    The construction of new apartments in 11 buildings at the Lada housing estate cost approximately 270 million crowns, with the state contributing a fifth. Part of the costs was paid by the owners of cooperative apartments, while the rest was covered by the city. The construction was divided into two phases. In the first phase, 69 apartments were handed over, and in these days, tenants are moving into another 80 apartments.
    The city originally planned only cooperative construction in the area, but due to the high demand for rental housing, it reevaluated its plans. Out of the 149 apartments, 30 are cooperative and nine are barrier-free, while the rest were rented out by the city. The tenants were selected by lottery.
    According to Deputy Mayor Jan Stejskal, mainly people who do not want to invest in housing yet or are afraid of getting into debt are interested in renting apartments. The rent in the new apartments is significantly higher than in the older buildings. Tenants pay 55 crowns per square meter. In older apartments with regulated rent, people pay only 16.20 CZK per square meter, which will increase to 20.60 CZK in March. However, this applies to only about 200 households, as the city has sold off the majority of its housing stock in recent years.
    A few years ago, there were plans for the construction of 270 cooperative apartments in the Špičák housing estate in Česká Lípa, but the plan was dropped due to low interest. Stejskal attributed the lack of interest mainly to the relatively high price. Interested buyers would have had to pay about 1.5 million crowns for a new cooperative apartment of 3+1 size. A similar apartment in older buildings can be purchased in Česká Lípa for around 800,000 crowns for cooperative apartments, while privately-owned apartments sell for about a million. Currently, there are around a hundred apartments available through real estate agencies.
    If the city wanted to build more apartments, it would have to use its own funds since it would no longer receive a grant. The Ministry for Regional Development had to limit support for municipalities for the construction of social apartments to 200,000 euros (about 5.2 million crowns) for one recipient over three years. A larger amount was considered an illegal public subsidy by the European Commission. The 200,000 euro limit applies to housing grants from all authorities; in addition to the Ministry for Regional Development, social apartments are also subsidized by the State Housing Development Fund.
    According to Stejskal, Česká Lípa wants to support new housing construction mainly by preparing land for individual family housing. "The demand is primarily for smaller plots of around 600 to 800 square meters," said the deputy mayor. According to him, the city is currently selecting locations and developing a new zoning plan. Building plots without engineering networks sell for around 500 to 600 crowns per square meter in Česká Lípa, while builders need another approximately 100,000 crowns for engineering networks.