Municipalities want legal help against land speculators

Representatives of the City of Prague are pushing an amendment to a law on property that would allow individual municipalities to claim an option on all real estate in its territory. The purpose of the bill, according to city councilor Hana Kordová Marvanová is to enable it to uild the roads, schools and social institutions it needs. "If the state decides to sell through a public tender, people and companies have an advantage," she told the daily Metro. As participants in tenders, municipalities have seriously limited financial resources. Current practice has demonstrated that the absence of clear, legally stated rules leads to key pieces of land ending up in the hands of speculators," said Marvanová. Prague is trying to drum up support for the bill from other associations of towns of regions across the Czech Republic.