A new, fair and transparent process for the allocation of rental flats

The development of rental housing in Bratislava is one of the city's priorities and City Hall is implementing a number of projects to support this. First, by expanding the stock of city rental flats in various ways, but most recently by setting out clear rules for their allocation.

The rental policy for flats managed by the city is currently governed by a general binding regulation, adopted more than sixteen years ago, which represents an outdated system for the allocation of rental flats in the city. Following extensive professional participation, a new draft general binding regulation was drawn up and submitted to the City Council, setting out clear rules for rental housing policy.

"After almost seventeen years, we are changing the rules for the allocation of municipal flats to align with the city's housing policy and to respond to the housing situation of applicants for housing, while at the same time being able to support employees essential for the city's operation," says Lenka Antalová Plavuchová, Deputy Mayor.

The new regulation adopted by the City Council includes good practices from abroad, methodologies for the prevention of housing loss and the basic principles of social housing so that use of the housing stock is both targeted and socially sensitive. It also improves access to affordable housing for people with disabilities, the elderly, people in housing need and other groups of people disadvantaged in the housing market.

Overview of the most important changes in comparison with the generally binding regulation currently in force:

I. Flats to be classified in four categories:

Flats for persons providing services in the public interest - b flats dedicated for households of employees providing healthcare, social and other services in Bratislava in the public interest, education, culture or protection of residents of the municipality Affordable housing - flats intended for persons disadvantaged on the housing market who are in housing need Affordable housing with aid - flats intended for the most vulnerable persons disadvantaged on the housing market, who are in housing need and whose situation requires some kind of support Special-purpose flats (accessible flats) - flats dedicated to households with a person with physical or other sensory disabilities

II. Modification of eligibility conditions (e.g., introducing an income cap) in order to increase accessibility, appropriateness, as well as sustainability of housing and to eliminate undesirable situations (e.g., rental housing not provided to persons who could, objectively, obtain it otherwise, given their income).

III. Changes in the composition and activities of the Housing Committee, a professional advisory body to the mayor, which will also ensure compliance with the rental housing allocation rules. The aim is to introduce strictly professional and objectified decision-making on the allocation of rental flats, following best practices from abroad (e.g., Prague, Brno). The method of selecting future tenants from the list of applicants will be transparent, with clearly defined criteria and detailed scoring, thereby excluding subjective or arbitrary assessment or interference.

IV. Adjusting the maximum duration of the lease and removing the option to enter into a contract for an indefinite period in order to increase the flexibility, accessibility and targeting of urban rental housing and to prevent tenants from buying flats in private ownership. The newly adopted regulation also applies to flats owned by the city which have been entrusted to the management of the city districts. It is up to the city district to determine whether it applies this new regulation directly, adopts its own regulation, or modifies the existing regulation so that it is in line with the new Bratislava policy on rental housing, also set out in the new generally binding regulation.

The city now owns 876 rental flats, with around 1,000 other flats entrusted to the management of city districts. The interest in urban rental housing has long exceeded the available stock. Accordingly, we are systematically working on expanding the housing stock of urban flats in a variety of ways from the renovation of neglected flats, the construction of new rental flats, to changes in the zoning plan and the introduction of new rules for cooperation with developers, creating the basis for the construction of up to 3,000 new flats, including rental ones. We are also improving the availability of housing for families and people in housing need in association with flat-owners through the City Rental Agency, whose activities are covered by the Bratislava Housing Organisation. At the end of the summer, we launched the construction of an apartment building with 103 rental and substitute flats on Muchovo Square in Petržalka; this marks a historic milestone in the development of rental housing and the first construction of a rental apartment building directly managed by the city in the last nine years. We currently have projects in the pipeline for the construction of approximately 400 flats. Together with other housing development tools, we would like to have approximately 2,400 rental apartments under our management by 2030.