Prague is looking for a partner for the construction of cooperative housing in Radlice

The Prague municipality has issued a tender for a partner company or other entity with which it will form a cooperative for the construction of apartment buildings in Radlická street, announced Prague spokesperson Vít Hofman. Two blocks of houses with up to 266 apartments in Prague 5 are to be built on municipal land as the first project of subsidized cooperative housing approved by the leadership of the metropolis in this election period.

The partner, selected in the competition, will establish a cooperative with the city and then ensure the construction of houses on its land. After that, Prague residents will be able to join the cooperative and, according to the municipality, get apartments up to a third cheaper than the market price. The city will keep a third of the apartments and use them for rental housing.

"We set up the project in such a way that it offers a solution for middle-class residents who, for various reasons, would not meet the conditions for arranging a mortgage. In this project, the cooperative as a whole takes out the loan for the entire house, in addition, the repayment of the loan can be spread over a longer period of time. This project will continue on the century-old tradition of cooperatives in the Czech Republic," said Prague councilor Hana Marvanová (for STAN).

According to city representatives, the advantage of the model is that the cooperative will not have to buy land. He will be able to buy it from the city until the loan for the construction of houses is paid off, so probably in 30 years. At the same time, the cooperative will pay an annual fee to the city fund for the development of affordable housing, which will be used for the evaluation of city land and the further development of the housing policy of the metropolis.

Those interested in membership in the cooperative will have to have a permanent residence in Prague and will not be able to own other housing. After joining the cooperative, they will have to pay a quarter of the price of the apartment right away, and then they will pay the rest as a share of the loan that the cooperative takes out from the bank for the construction. According to Hofman, the construction is expected to be completed within three to four years. In the future, the city wants to start similar projects on other city plots.

Source: CTK