Prague's new assembly meets on Thursday: who will run the city, and what it means for housing

What happens on Thursday?

The newly elected members meet for the first time and take their oath. The outgoing mayor, Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS), called the meeting for 5 November at 9:00 in the large hall of the New City Hall, Mariánské nám. 2, with 6 November in reserve, the notice on the city's official board says. It was signed on his behalf by his deputy, Alexandra Udženija. The meeting is public, and the city streams it online.

The agenda includes setting how many deputy mayors and councillors there will be, electing the mayor (primátor), the deputies and the rest of the council, and setting up the assembly's committees.

That's the plan on paper. Because the coalition talks won't be finished by Thursday, the parties have agreed that members will only take their oaths and then break off the meeting until 12 November, when the coalition should be clear, ČTK reported on Monday.

The law sets the order. Under the Prague Act (No. 131/2000), every member takes the oath "at the start of the first meeting" (§ 50), and the first meeting elects the mayor, the deputies and the other councillors (§ 61). The outgoing mayor has to call it so that it meets within 15 days of the deadline for challenging the election in court. That deadline puts the latest date on 9 November, Pražský patriot reported. One challenge, over a single candidate's election, was filed. The city said that kind of challenge doesn't delay the meeting, and that it was following the Interior Ministry's opinion.

Who won, and who is negotiating?

STAN (Starostové a nezávislí, the Mayors and Independents) came first with 23.17% and 17 seats. Spolu, the joint list of ODS and TOP 09, won 22.05% and also 17 seats, the Czech Statistical Office's results show. Praha sobě won 13 seats, ANO 11 and the Pirates 7. SPD and Motoristé sobě, both in the national government, won none. Turnout was 46.04%.

STAN, which won, leads the talks through its Prague leader, Petr Hlaváček. STAN and Spolu are already agreed on governing together and have 34 of the 65 votes, a majority of one. They are deciding whether to add a third partner:

• Monday 2 November: their negotiators meet Praha sobě.
• Tuesday 3 November: they meet the Pirates.
• All week: working groups go through the programme, area by area, with both.

All the parties ruled out working with ANO, ČTK reported. Until now Prague was run by Spolu (then ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL), the Pirates and STAN.

If no third partner is agreed in time, STAN and Spolu would govern as two and keep talking, with the council split six to STAN and five to Spolu. In a three-way deal, STAN proposed five seats for itself, four for Spolu and two for Praha sobě, Pražský patriot reported on 22 October.

Transport is on the table too: Hlaváček wants the annual Lítačka pass and resident parking to cost more. Our story on those plans has the details.

What does the city decide about housing?

The city doesn't set rents in private flats: those follow your contract and the Civil Code, and the rent increase tool explains the rules. What the new leadership does control:

• City flats. Prague rents out its own flats, mainly to people in jobs the city needs, such as teachers, police officers, health workers and firefighters, and also to older people, Praguers in housing need and disabled people, with a smaller share offered to anyone living in Prague through open selections, the city's page on applying says.
• Building new ones. The city's own developer, the Pražská developerská společnost (Prague Development Company), applied in June 2024 for permits for about 450 flats in its first projects. The current housing strategy, from 2021, aims to grow the city's stock to at least 35,000 flats by 2030.
• What can be built where. The new Metropolitan Plan (Metropolitní plán), the zoning plan for the whole city, has been in force since 1 September 2026, the city says. Only the assembly can change it (§ 59 of the Prague Act).

What did the parties promise on housing?

Every party that might govern promised more flats owned by the city. In their own programmes:

• STAN promises to "start building 2,000 city flats" and to raise the city's share of Prague's housing from 5% to 10% by 2050. In planning agreements with developers, it wants their contribution in city flats, its programme says (our translation).
• Spolu wants conditions under which 10,000 new flats could be built a year, would "reassess the role" of the Prague Development Company so city flats come faster, and wants "reasonable regulation" of Airbnb-type services, not limits on business, its programme says (our translation).
• Praha sobě promises to start preparing 8,000 new city flats, to stop selling the city's flats and land, to take developers' contributions as finished flats, and to "get tougher" on Airbnb-type services, its programme says (our translation).
• The Pirates want up to 30% of flats in new developments let for at least 30 years at rents 30% below the market, their programme says, and a property tax several times higher on apartment buildings left empty for a long time or let entirely to tourists, on Airbnb.

These are election promises. What the coalition actually commits to will be in its agreement, which hasn't been written yet.

What does it mean if you rent or buy?

Nothing changes on Thursday. A new mayor and council don't change your lease, your rent or a purchase you're making.

If you rent privately, the parties' plans on short-term lets matter most over the next few years. Fewer flats let to tourists would mean more on the long-term market, but none of the four has put a date on its plans.

If you'd like a city flat, check what's open now on the city's page and on your district's site. Promises of thousands of new flats are years from keys: Praha sobě itself talks of starting to prepare them.

If you're buying, the Metropolitan Plan already decides what can be built near you. Only the assembly can change it.

Our renting guides and buying guides cover what you can do today, and rent or buy compares the two for your situation.

What happens next?

• Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 November: STAN and Spolu meet Praha sobě, then the Pirates.
• Thursday 5 November, 9:00: the assembly's first meeting. Members take the oath, then plan to adjourn.
• 12 November: the meeting is due to resume and elect the mayor, the deputy mayors and the council.

We'll update this story when the coalition is announced.