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

3. Selected housing policy instruments in the Czech environment

Introduction

In this chapter the authors attempted to present certain propositions of a concrete form of social housing and the housing allowance in the Czech Republic, i.e., to respond to the following questions: What should the social housing system be like in order to minimise, as much as possible, the negative aspects of supply-oriented support? What should such a system be like in the concrete Czech conditions with its specific tradition and institutionalised environment? What should the housing allowance be in order to minimise, as much as possible, the negative aspects of demand-oriented subsidies, such as inflation pressures, stigmatisation, high administrative costs, uncertainty relating to private investments and especially ensuring that tenant support does not end up being a mere increase of profit for landlords? These questions then implicitly assume to give an answer to another question: What should the second-generation rent control system be like in order to ensure greater social justice, economic viability, efficiency with respect to public budget expenditures and greater market friendliness?