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This research paper focuses on the current issues of affordable housing in Prague, analyzing the approval processes and proposing solutions. The research is supported by various organizations and institutions.
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Department of Urban Design, Prague Institute ofPlanning and Development, hainc@ipr.praha.eu Tomas HUDECEK, Petr HLAVACEK, Jaromir HAINC, Martin CERVINKA Statistics and Governance. CurrentIssuesofAffordableHousing: Case of Prague
Content • Researchfocus • AffordableHousingDefinition • Case of Prague • Analysesof data • Proposal 2176
Researchfocus Researchis supported by the grant Eta TL01000423 of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) Researchisprovided by • Czech Technical University in Prague - Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies • ArchitektiHeadhand s. r. o., Prague • Prague Institute of Planning and Development, Prague 2176
Prague Institute ofPlanning and Development The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague) is the body in charge of developing the concept behind the city’s architecture, urbanism, development and formation. It is an organisation funded by Prague and represents the city in spatial planning matters. http://en.iprpraha.cz/ 2176
Researchfocus • Housing affordability in this paper focuses on the process, and is limited to the planning and approval processes. In the case of Prague. • It does not include research on the influence of the local market, fiscal policy, tax policy and externalities caused by the global market. • The aimoftheresearchis to analyse specific approval processes for buildings in relation to the governance system, the administrative divisions, and decisions made by public administrations at different levels in Prague in the last two decades. 2176
DefinitionofAffordableHousing • The median of the ratio of housing cost over income gives an indication of the financial pressure that households face due to housing costs Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) • Another common measure for housing affordability used by the OECD is the housing cost overburden rate, which measures the proportion of households or population that spend more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs. This is also in line with Eurostat methodology (OECD, 2018) Source: OECD, 2018, Affordable Housing Database, [http://www.oecd.org/social/affordable-housing-database.htm, http://oe.cd/ahd] accessed October 20,2018 2176
Housingstock The OECD notes that: “in a little more than a third of European countries, total housing costs for households servicing a mortgage are relatively higher than those of tenants renting on the private market. This concerns mainly Central and Eastern European countries where rental markets have been traditionally small, ownership is the dominant tenure type and housing quality is often low” (OECD, 2018). 2176
Housingstock • In the Czech Republic, and especially in Prague, the housing stock is relatively old • Share of owner occupied housing is relatively high, at approximately 40%. • Share of rental apartments in Prague was approximately 30% in 2011 • Annualgrowthofpoppulationaprox. 5.000 - 6.000 inhabitants • Housingstock: 600.000 appartments • Prague numberofinhabitants: 1.309.000 (31.03.2019) https://www.czso.cz/csu/xa/1-xa • Average brutto salary: 41.450 CZK = 1.628 EUR (I.Q 2019) https://www.czso.cz/csu/xa/1-xa • Appartmentsstarted to be bulit: 1.216 (I. Q 2019) https://www.czso.cz/csu/xa/1-xa 2176
Appartments in Prague available Number of available apartments in Prague Source: IPR Praha, 2017 2176
Administrativedivisionof Prague Source: IPR Praha, 2018 2176
AverageHousingProject in Prague 7 years 3years 1 year 2176
AverageHousingProject in Prague 7 years 3years 1 year 2176
AverageHousingProject in Prague 7 years 3years 1 year 2176
Housingprojects • The length of preparation for housing development projects in Prague depends on the way management processes are implemented according to Czech building laws (especially Building Act No. 183/2006 Coll. and the Administrative Code) and the division of competencies and roles within the City of Prague • Until the late 1990s this agenda was centralized at the level of Prague City Hall, with the body for appeals being the Ministry for Regional Development • After 1998, however, due to pressure from the city districts, land use rulings were moved to the level of the 22 administrative districts, so the appellate body became Prague City Hall as the closest higher administrative body 2176
Identifiedproblems • Obstacles concerning the national legislation. For instance, the current legislation allows different parties to dispute submitted construction plans, which can lead to delays or even derail projects completely • Administrative obstacles including the state administration’s disregard for given time limits for evaluating submissions, outrageous requirements for amendments to incomplete submissions, and the interventions of additional authorities (for instance, authorities managing cultural heritage protection, environmental protection etc.) • Political obstacles, including the requirements of investors for changes and amendments to the land use plan, negotiations with local political authorities, delays that arise as a direct consequence of requested alterations to the project, not corresponding to the legislative background • Political obstacles at the local level, including difficulties with the adaptation of housing projects to the demands of local political representatives. Also, the fulfilment of requirements for one project does not ensure that future difficulties will be avoided, due to the separation of state delegated power from the power of elected representatives 2176
Data analyses • Detailed analysis of land use rulings issued in Prague between 1997-2018. • The distribution of projects over the period evaluated is given in the table below. • This analysis only includes projects begun in 1997 or later from the „Databases PDU“ which is not compulsory, but covers 95% of all submitted projects in Prague 2176
Housing 2176
Proposal Createa single “office” to centralize the decision-making for large apartment buildings containing the majority of housing capacity, which may be instrumental in changing the current situation. From 2004 to 2018 a total of 47 projects in Prague comprised nearly 74% of all housing capacity permitted. At the same time, this would hypothetically leave a great number of smaller projects with the city districts, depending on the location, size and type of city district. 2176
Acknowledgments This paper is supported by the grant Eta TL01000423 of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR). Many thanks must be given to the Strategies and Policies Department at the Prague Institute of Planning and Development, for their support and access to data. 2176
Jaromir Hainc hainc@ipr.praha.eu 2176