The Czech government wants to involve the Czech National Development Bank (NRB) in the construction of affordable rental housing. The cabinet is also planning to amend the law on the State Fund for Investment Support (SFPI), which supports housing development in the Czech Republic. This is to support the government's commitment that up to 10,000 extra rental flats could be built per year by the end of the parliamentary term. The Czech Press Agency (CTK) quotes the updated programme statement of the cabinet.
The government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) promised to support the development of all types of housing (owner-occupied, rental and cooperative). Therefore, it wants to prepare new financial instruments for the construction of affordable rental housing in the form of, for example, fund financing or loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and state guarantees for loans. The new National Development Bank (NDB) is to be involved in this activity, writes the Czech Press Agency.
The NRB was established in 1992 as the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank and has been operating under a new name since September 2021. Its sole shareholder is the Czech Republic. The bank offers loans to businesses at zero or preferential interest rates. Last year, it provided loans and guarantees worth CZK 22.5 billion (€956 million) to businesses, with another around CZK 1 billion (€42.5 million) made available for the development of public infrastructure.
On housing, the government statement also added that a wider range of financial sources, including the National Recovery Plan, are to be used to increase the construction of rental housing.
The amendment to the law on the State Fund for Investment Promotion (SFPI) is intended to allow the fund to operate more flexibly and expand the possibility of targeting programmes, Veronika Hešíková, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Regional Development, told the CTK. The government said in a statement that more money should be moved to the SFPI for innovative financial instruments to support housing. This is to include funds for the preparation of project documentation, property buyouts and the regeneration of brownfields for housing purposes, as well as for the reconstruction of neglected housing stock.
