Czech Association for Architecture and Development issues 10 recommendations

The Association for Architecture and Development (SAR) has issued 10 recommendations to the new House and Government on how to support new construction and ensure affordable housing.

1) A new building law is necessary, but it should be amended, but its effectiveness should not be postponed for more than half a year. Digitization is key, but it must go hand in hand with the new law.

2) Even the best building law is not enough to support new construction and improve the availability of housing, unless the cities and municipalities where it is built receive significantly more money from the state for public infrastructure.

3) VAT on new flats should be reduced from 15 to 10 percent and the remaining 5 percent should be obtained in the form of a local tax by cities and municipalities where these flats are built (PRINCIPLE 10 + 5).

4) Cities and municipalities should not address the lack of funding from the state by requiring "voluntary" infrastructure contributions from investors. This only further raises the prices of apartments.

5) Affordable housing will provide only enough housing on the market and a balance of supply and demand with healthy market competition ensuring affordable prices.


6) In order to support the availability of housing, the public administration should, above all, ensure long-term rules for construction development and free up enough space for new construction.

7) Public administration has other important tasks than providing housing construction. However, if they decide to build their own housing, these should be rental apartments that will remain in public ownership.

8) PPP projects should also be used in the area of ​​housing. The solution can also be the exchange of unused public land and brownfields for apartments from private investors.

9) New construction on brownfields should be a priority. The state should financially support the decontamination and revitalization of brownfields, not only public but also private.

10) The quality of spatial planning and the quality of new construction with an emphasis on public space are key for construction development.

The Association for Architecture and Development (SAR) is an independent initiative of experts in the fields of architecture, construction, economics and law. The key activities of the association are the semi-annual Summits of Architecture and Development. These are traditionally held in the Prague Municipal House with the participation of leading politicians and experts. You can watch a video report of the last summit on the SAR website. Summits always address current issues and evaluate what has worked, what has failed and what needs to be done for the next period, both at the state and Prague level. At the same time, these events popularize high-quality modern architecture and feature top Czech and foreign artists. The most respected Czech architects are regular participants in the summits, for example Eva Jiřičná, Josef Pleskot, Zdeněk Fránek, Pavel Hnilička and others. In the past, such leading figures in world architecture as Sou Fujimoto, Elizabeth Diller, Ian Ritchie and others also took part in the summits.