Prague leaders have presented another step towards resolving the current housing crisis in the capital city. Construction of new residential blocks may start as early as next year under a concept known as “baugruppe” that has been popular in Germany and Switzerland. The term translates as “a building group” and refers to self-organized collective housing.

 The city is going to identify unused land that it will offer for housing construction. Building groups organized by citizens themselves or by a professional organizer will be able to bid for the plots of land in tenders to win the right to build an apartment block at their own expense. The city will have a certain number of apartments in each project at its disposal to offer housing to key professionals, such as teachers, rescuers, policemen etc. This is a new housing construction model that will supplement commercial projects and traditional housing cooperatives.

 A key aspect of the system is financing. It will be spread over multiple generations so as not to lay an excessive burden on the first generation who will build the houses. The city has been working with Komerční banka to develop a financing model for this type of projects. It will then be up to the building groups to select an appropriate financial product.

 The plots of land for collective housing projects will be offered in tenders under criteria defined by the city. The city will select such building groups that will best meet the criteria. Those interested in the baugruppe concept in Prague can contact spolkyprobydleni@praha.eu for more details.