The government will discuss a new housing concept, which aims to support cooperative and rental apartments

Prague – The government will discuss a new housing concept for the coming years on Monday. It aims to support cooperative and rental housing, as well as to promote the institutional and legal framework for social housing and improve its financing. This follows from a document from the Ministry of Regional Development, which has been made available to ČTK.

"The basic vision of the so-called Concept 2021+ is affordable, stable, and sustainable housing. We want particularly to achieve the largest possible increase in rental housing and also to introduce a new investment program for cooperative apartments," said Jana Hanzlíková, Deputy Minister of Regional Development for Housing and Social Inclusion.

According to her, another goal is to create a stable housing environment, where the emphasis is placed mainly on the legislative environment and data collection, including analysis of rental price development. The concept will also focus on the use of modern technologies in construction. "These should not only accelerate housing construction but also reduce carbon footprints, decrease labor demands, and lower energy consumption," Hanzlíková added.

According to estimates, 70 percent of people in the Czech Republic live in their own apartment or house, one-fifth live in rental apartments, and approximately one-tenth live in cooperative housing. According to the data from the Association of Czech and Moravian Housing Cooperatives, there are currently about 700,000 cooperative apartments in the Czech Republic. In total, there are 4.37 million apartments in the Czech Republic, of which 3.83 million are permanently inhabited. Of these occupied apartments, 2.16 million are in apartment buildings.