Publications to Download

Martin Lux 2004

Housing the Poor in the Czech Republic: Prague, Brno and Ostrava

Fearn, J. (ed.) 2004

Too Poor to Move, Too Poor to Stay: A Report on Housing in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Serbia

Budapest: Open Society Institute

Excerpt from the Preface written by James Fearn, editor of the publication:

To better understand the circumstances of the housing poor and of the governmental responses to their problems, the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) of the Open Society Institute (OSI) initiated studies of the problems facing the housing poor in five capital cities in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The objective of the studies was to provide an in-depth examination and analysis of:

the living conditions and economic circumstances of the housing poor;
the state and local government housing policies and programs that address those conditions; and
the effectiveness of those policies and programs.

Of particular interest were the:

effects of housing privatization;
allocation of responsibility, between central and local governments, for housing the poor;
effects of past government policies on the production and availability of affordable housing;
political and economic causes of any decline in housing production;
quantity and types of housing built since transition;
effects of tenant protections; and
groups that primarily benefi ted from and were primarily burdened by government regulations.

After describing and analyzing the situation and existing policies, the authors were to recommend alternative policies and strategies for addressing the problems of the housing poor in the selected countries.

The Belgrade (Serbia), Budapest (Hungary), and Prague (Czech Republic) studies are included in this volume. A comprehensive picture of housing conditions and policies in those cities was not possible without discussing housing conditions and policies in other areas of each country. Each study, therefore, includes some information and analysis on areas outside the primary study area.

For the purposes of this volume, “housing poor” has been defi ned as those who are: homeless; living in overcrowded conditions; living in illegal or substandard housing; paying more than a nationally defined acceptable percentage of income for rent; or unable to pay for utilities and/or maintenance. Within this definition, “homelessness” generally referred to people who are “roofless”—not those who have shelter but would prefer better or different shelter.

Full version of the publication is available on LGI pages.

Other Publications