Housing policy

What is it?

Housing policy here is mostly two laws: one for building homes, one for helping people keep one.

The first is the building act, Act 283/2021, in force since January 2024. It was meant to start in July 2023, until a 2023 amendment moved the date and scrapped the state building offices it had planned. It has been amended many times since, the Collection of Laws shows.

The second is the housing support act, in force since 1 January 2026. Anyone can get free housing advice at a contact point, which in Prague is the district office, and the Labour Office decides on support such as guaranteed or sublet housing. An amendment moved open cases to the Labour Office from 1 September 2026.

What has been decided?

A big rewrite of the building act. Ten deputies proposed it in December 2025, the Chamber passed it in July and the Senate rejected it in August. On 9 September the Chamber kept it over the Senate's veto. The President signed it on 17 September, and it went for publication on 19 October, the Chamber's record shows. On 31 October it wasn't in the Collection of Laws yet.

The law as passed aims at one procedure, run by one office, ending in one permit. Among other things, it:

• gives neighbours 10 days to object to a project, and an objection succeeds only if it rests on a breach of the law;
• lets the owners' association (SVJ) speak for flat owners in a case, unless an owner opts out;
• treats a small block of flats, up to four floors above ground and 500 m² built up, as a simple building;
• sets up a state Territorial Development Office from 1 January 2027 and moves the building offices, Prague's included, to the state from 2028.

What happens next?

The first changes start on the first day of the month after the law is published, most of the rest on 1 January 2027 and a few on 1 January 2028, the law's final article says. The regional development ministry sums it up as large buildings from 2027, smaller ones from 2028. Building offices can keep using data boxes and their old systems until the end of 2030.

Senators of the Mayors club plan to ask the Constitutional Court in November to annul the whole amendment, Advokátní deník reported. A petition needs at least 17 senators. None had been filed by 31 October.

No affordable housing act is before the Chamber, its list of bills shows. The state's loans and grants for building rental flats go through the State Investment Support Fund, whose programmes open and close in rounds.

What should you read next?

• Buying a new build off plan: permits, kolaudace and the developer's contract.
• Buying a flat, step by step, and what buying costs on top of the price.
• Free legal help in Prague, if you need advice on your case.