Czech municipalities will be able to apply for state land for housing construction free of charge
The government decided on Wednesday to set aside 100 plots of land across the Czech Republic that can be transferred to the property of towns and municipalities free of charge. The condition is that they must be used for housing construction. Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) told journalists after his speech at a meeting of development leaders in Prague today. According to the minister, the land has been separated from the administration of the State Land Office, and now the government will look for other plots of land that fall under the administration of, for example, the Railway Administration or Czech Railways.
"At the government meeting, we put 100 sites into the state reserve, which will be available to towns and municipalities in this way. At the same time, we have agreed to review not only the land of the State Land Office, but also the land of the Railway Administration or possibly Czech Railways. These could be interesting because of the locations where transport infrastructure is connected. For example, they are in the centres of towns and villages and could be used for housing construction," Jurečka said. According to him, the value of the land could be in the hundreds of millions of crowns.
The locations are all over the Czech Republic. These are plots of land of the State Land Office, which have been removed from normal disposal and put into a special reserve for municipalities. According to Jurečka, the state is currently ready to negotiate with municipalities and towns on the transfer of the land. It will be possible to mediate this during this year. Mutual partial negotiations would then be handled by the Office for State Representation in Property Matters.
According to Jurečka, the transfer of state land to municipalities is one of the steps that should solve the problem of expensive and unaffordable housing. Other steps include investment support for the construction of affordable rental housing and the introduction of a law on housing support. The draft law on housing support, developed by the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), is part of a reform under which seven billion crowns should be allocated by 2026 for the construction of new affordable rental housing. Jurečka said he would like to increase the amount of investment by 10 to 15 billion crowns.
The subsidy could be used by municipalities for the construction of municipal flats, as well as by private investors. The support could be used for new buildings, building modifications or extensions. Part of the money can be used immediately for a maximum of 40 percent of the total cost if specific requirements are met. The subsequent subsidised loan at the EU base rate for the Czech Republic, reduced by up to three percentage points, can be up to 65 per cent of the project cost. In total, the subsidy and the soft loan could cover up to 90 percent of the cost. The repayment period is up to 30 years and early repayment is free of charge. For example, a local government unit, a state-funded organisation or a church can apply.
Source: KDU-ČSL and CTK
