Apartments for socially vulnerable citizens of Czechia will be built by the state
As Radio Prague notes, the standard legislative process, however, delays the start of implementation of any specific plans until 2021-22. A direct investment program, financed, as Minister of Regional Development Klára Dostálová emphasizes, from the state budget, will allow the construction of necessary apartments to begin as early as March-April 2019.
According to the head of the ministry, the ruling coalition is not abandoning the development of a new law, but its concept has changed over time. The new norm, according to the minister, will be aimed at creating a fund for "affordable housing."
"In our plans, we want to transform the law so that it covers not just one single segment of 'social housing.' We are talking specifically about affordable housing, about a norm that will include not only articles on social housing, but, for example, cooperative housing and other options," emphasizes Klára Dostálová.
The main stumbling block remains money, about which local administrators most often say that there is too little of it. The developing program "Construction," according to the government member, is an attempt to quickly solve the problem of housing shortages for people in critical situations.
"The subsidy program will include all the necessary attributes of a law, excluding only the element of mandatory enforcement," states Klára Dostálová. "The program adheres to the principle of voluntary participation, but also contains a tool that stimulates the creation of not only a social housing fund, but also affordable housing. We strive to ensure that the administrations of settlements have apartments at their disposal that they can provide not only to socially vulnerable citizens, but also to single mothers or pensioners, and citizens in socially useful professions – doctors, teachers, police officers."
For the construction of "social housing," the state intends to pay 100% subsidies, and for the construction of "affordable housing," to provide favorable loans. As for the amount of annual state subsidies, "2 billion crowns (78 million 125 thousand euros) will be enough for the construction of 1,400 new apartments," emphasizes the minister.
At the same time, one must not forget that it is not always about the need to build new residential buildings. Some settlements have apartments that can be reclassified as social housing, but they lack funds for the necessary renovations.
In turn, public organizations and trade unions draw attention to the fact that the annual increase in the number of people in need of housing is 3,000 families.
"We intend to use European sources of funding as well. We have a new EU financial period ahead, for which we want to receive more than 500 billion crowns (19.5 billion euros), although, of course, not all of this amount will go to social housing. The implementation of the 'Construction' program will begin with state funds, and in 2021 we will add European money to this in order to cope with the situation as quickly as possible," emphasizes Minister of Regional Development Klára Dostálová.