Prague and the Ombudsman Křeček ask the Ministry to change the approach of building offices in the case of apartments being used to shared accommodation

Respective building offices have not required the re-utilization of structures of apartments determined to permanent living so far, provided these have been consistently used for operating temporary accommodation services, which should be changed now. That is the conclusion of today session of the mayor of the capital city of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib, and the councillor for the area of legislation, public administration, and living support, Hana Kordová Marvanová, with the Ombudsman, Stanislav Křeček. The topic covered the use of apartments for providing temporary accommodation services through online platforms.

Due to the current practice, providing of named services could extend practically in an unrestricted way, which consequently leads to the depopulation of the city centre, creation of the so-called tenement house hotels, the threat of health and security of residents in such houses, increased mess and noise therein as well as further unfortunate phenomena. The association Bearable Living in the Centre of Prague, whose chairperson, Petr Městecký, took part in the mentioned session, too, has constantly pointed these facts out.

Participants of the session agreed that decision-making of building offices should change, since these should consistently execute compliance with the present building regulation. Because these offices act as state administration institutions, representatives of self-government administration themselves are not allowed to intervene hereinto. They thus welcomed and joined the Ombudsman´s initiative addressing the Ministry of Regional Development, asking for solving the situation within methodical supervision of building offices.

“The present practice of the so-called shared accommodation is unsustainable. Services distanced the original intention and consequently, they mean additional costs for the city and a decrease in life quality for local residents. We do not fight against shared accommodation as such, but against circumventing the law. Our aim is to settle the market since nowadays, the Prague hotel and guesthouse operators are significantly disadvantaged. The transformation of apartments into hotel rooms is also one of the essential reasons for both housing unavailability and increasing prices. The Ministry of Regional Development must react to such situation,” says the mayor of the capital city of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib.

“We have been dealing with this issue constantly, however, collecting of the documentation was suspended due to COVID-19 epidemic, when there was a decline of services providing. Because the release is now taking place and offers of temporary accommodation services through applications, such as e.g. Airbnb, are starting to rise, I decided to continue in my previous activity and thus initiate an investigation in the matter in question throughout all regions. Therein, I am going to focus within the frame of my competence on the procedure of the Ministry of Regional Development and its methodical supervision towards building offices. I also welcome the initiative of the capital city of Prague, which joined solving of this issue from its position,” noted the Ombudsman, Stanislav Křeček.

“As the chairperson of the Commission of the Council of the capital city of Prague for providing the temporary accommodation services, I fully identify with preliminary conclusions of the Public Defender of Rights, that in the event of a repeated and constant use of housing unit for providing of the temporary accommodation services, a partial change in the structure use purpose occurs, and thus a public-law procedure conducted by the building office is important for securing the protection of public interests, e.g. in the area of safety and fire protection. The obligation of re-utilization of structures of the apartment while fulfilling the building regulation criteria will contribute to both protection of public interests and stating strong limitations for this entrepreneurship so that public interests together with interests of owners of other housing units in the building could be protected and entrepreneurial surroundings in the area of providing accommodation services could be settled,” adds the councillor for the area of legislation, public administration and living support, Hana Kordová Marvanová.

The chairperson of the association Bearable Living in the Centre of Prague, Petr Městecký, follows: “We are happy for the initiative of the Public Defender of Rights since it reflects the legal opinion of the association, that an intensive use of the apartment as a “hotel room” means the change in the structure use purpose of the building itself, which brings the obligation of the building office to re-examine, whether such a change is allowed. While dealing with this issue, it is always necessary to emphasize the compliance with country planning documentation, objectives, and tasks of town and country planning, general conditions for construction, public interests protected by the Building Act, and particular legal regulation.”

In the past, the capital city of Prague has already started to take particular steps towards a broader regulation of services of shared accommodation. Thanks to its legislative initiative, it succeeded in enforcing the obligation of online platforms towards municipalities to provide detailed information on the number of guests in order to collect local fees. A further step, which would contribute to improving the situation, represents e.g. strengthening powers of both associations of housing unit owners and individual owners of housing units in apartment buildings. Hands of municipalities could be unbounded also by the legal empowerment to issue a regulation, through which they would have the possibility, if needed, to regulate providing temporary accommodation services in their territory. The respective proposal of amendment to the Trade Act, which Prague submitted as its legislative initiative, has been awaiting the hearing in the Chamber of Deputies for almost a year, though.