Rising real estate prices and the associated rental housing prices are already evergreen in the country. This situation, previously perceived as a temporary crisis, now appears to be a permanent trend, affecting not only young families and individuals looking for their first home, but also older generations who are faced with ever-increasing costs.
Act No. 126/2024 Coll., amending Act No. 211/2000 Coll., on the State Investment Support Fund, as amended, Act No. 283/2021 Coll., the Building Act, as amended, and Act No. 151/1997 Coll., on the Valuation of Property and on Amendments to Certain Acts (Act on the Valuation of Property), as amended, seeks to partially respond to this situation. Among other things, the amendment establishes the institution of so-called affordable rental housing and regulates the valuation of property through price maps.
The amendment seeks to encourage cities, municipalities and private investors to build more apartments with state support, which would then be rented out at so-called affordable rents. For this purpose, the government has secured about CZK 8 billion from the National Recovery Plan in the first phase, which will be provided through the State Investment Support Fund and the National Development Bank in the form of loans at a two per cent interest rate for these projects. According to the amendment, the available rent is not to exceed 90% of the comparable rent in a given location and may be indexed annually for inflation up to a maximum of 4%. The amendment also regulates the institution of a lease agreement for affordable rental housing, which for the purposes of the Act is a lease agreement whose object is the provision of affordable rental housing and which is concluded for a fixed term of at least 1 year but no longer than 2 years. If the lease term is extended, or if a new lease is concluded with the same tenant, the lease term shall be for a fixed term of 2 years.
A relatively interesting novelty, which the amendment also introduced, is the price maps of rental housing, which are intended to serve as a reference source of information for determining comparable rents in a given location. The maps are prepared and published by the Ministry of Finance and take the form of an interactive map of the Czech Republic, which shows the rental price perm2 in individual locations. As the quality of flats and the related rent levels can vary significantly, the price map works with the rent of a so-called reference flat. A reference apartment is an unfurnished apartment made of brickwork in good condition, about 20 years old, without accessories (terraces, garages, etc.). Reference apartments are further divided into 4 size categories ranging from 16m2 to 90m2. The map is available on the website of the Ministry of Finance. It is divided according to the districts of each municipality (except for municipalities with extended competence and Prague, which are divided according to cadastral areas). In the bottom right corner there is a colour scale scaled according to the rent price. The detailed price is then displayed by hovering the mouse over a specific municipality. The amount shown corresponds to the estimated market value of the rent for one month and onem2 of the reference apartment according to the specified size category. These are toggled in the top right corner of the map. The data in the price map is based on rental offers of apartments in real estate advertisements that were probably rented out in the specified period. According to the methodology of the Ministry of Finance, this information from the real estate portals is the only available data source at the level of specific flats containing, among other things, information on their area, condition, house construction and flat amenities.
The price maps can thus become a useful tool for determining the indicative price of rent in a given location, even for landlords and tenants who are not directly affected by the newly introduced affordable housing institute.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or guidance for any particular case.
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