Housing Standards 2003/2004:
Housing Policy in the Czech Republic - More Efficiently and More Effective

1. Housing shortage in the Czech Republic?

Conclusion

All the data presented so far about the availability of housing suggest that the situation in the Czech Republic is not significantly different from the situation in the enlarged Europe in terms of the number of dwellings measured per number of inhabitants or households but that it differs in terms of poor quality of dwellings, or more precisely, in their smaller size. Indicators used do not in any way confirm the widespread opinion that there is a housing shortage in the Czech Republic and that this distinguishes the country from other European Union countries. The analysis of the number of dwellings measured per number of inhabitants or households in individual counties of the Czech Republic documents that there are relatively significant regional differences in the number of dwellings per 1,000 inhabitants but only small differences in the number of dwellings per 100 households. An analysis of the relationship between the availability and affordability of housing at the level of individual counties in the Czech Republic moreover showed that there is no statistical relationship between the two indicators.

Data on the number of dwellings measured per number of inhabitants or households principally refute the need to preserve the existing rent control system. The existing rent control system keeps both dwelling owners and their tenants trapped in legal ambiguity and insecurity concerning their future; it also pushes new interested parties from the rental housing sector to the market rental housing sector where practically no rules have been set to govern the rental relations.