The city launches the construction of rental flats on Muchovo Square

The development of rental housing in Bratislava is one of the city's top priorities, hence City Hall is implementing a number of projects to support rental housing. The city has just launched the construction of an apartment building with 103 rental and substitute flats on Muchovo Square in Petržalka. This is 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. The expected duration of the construction works is 19 months, i.e. until March 2025. The estimated cost of the construction, co-financed from the subsidy of the Ministry of Transport and a loan from the State Fund for Housing Development (SFRB), amounts to almost €11 million. The city also has a further seven residential and multifunctional buildings with 420 rental flats in various stages of preparation, which will gradually be implemented over the coming years.

The project of the city's own construction of a rental apartment building is divided into two blocks with residential units. In the first stage, an eight-storey residential building with a floor area of 5,030m² will be built, consisting of 52 conventional rental flats and 51 substitute rental flats for persons eligible for restitution. In the second phase of the project, about 50 more rental flats are expected to be delivered with the second apartment building.

Initially, a commercial housing project was to be constructed on the site by a private developer. However, the land was reacquired by the city company METRO Bratislava a.s. with the aim of revitalising the area and providing quality public space in addition to rental housing. As part of the participation process, the details of the construction were communicated with the residents in the neighbourhood, as well as the parking solutions and enhancement of the public space such as the public park and amenities.

The site was handed over to the contractor in the penultimate week of August and the construction began. Soon the construction site will be set up and the initial excavation works will follow, as well as concrete works on the foundations. Rough construction will follow progressively and is scheduled for completion in October 2024. From March 2024 onwards, construction of the interiors is scheduled to take place and the handover of the works is scheduled for March 2025. The total construction period is planned for 19 months.

The city is building a rental apartment building after an interval of nine years, when the last apartment building was handed over on the then Čapajevova Street, now Ondrej Štefanka Street 5, with 48 flats. Prior to that, in 2010, the Housing Development Company built an apartment building on Osuského Street in Petržalka, where the flats were sold off to private owners.

"This day represents an especially important moment for the development of rental housing. I believe that Bratislava is entering a new era of the systematic development of rental housing after years of inertia and not addressing the issue of affordable housing. I highly appreciate the cooperation with the ŠFRB, the Ministry of Transport and the Bratislava District Authority in preparing the applications and securing the funding for this construction," says L. Antalová Plavuchová, Deputy Mayor.

As Katarína Bruncková, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, says: "After a lengthy period, Bratislava has come up with a project for the construction of rental flats. The project includes a total of 103 rental flats, 52 of which are intended for citizens who meet the conditions for subsidies pursuant to Act No. 443/2010 Coll., and a further 51 flats will be provided to citizens who are entitled to housing compensation. The Ministry of Transport welcomes this activity and, together with the State Fund for Housing Development, has supported the project with a total amount of €7,019,530, with the Ministry of Transport providing a subsidy of €4,427,970 (49%) and the State Fund for Housing Development providing a loan of €2,591,560 (29%)."

The city currently owns 876 rental flats, with a further thousand flats managed by city districts. The interest in urban rental housing has long exceeded the available supply, so we are systematically working on expanding the stock of urban rental housing in a variety of ways, including the reconstruction of neglected city flats, the actual construction of rental flats, as well as changes to the zoning plan and the setting of new rules for cooperation with developers, creating the prerequisite 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 the flat-owners through the City Rental Agency, whose activities are covered by the Bratislava Housing Organisation. Currently, there are projects in the pipeline for the construction of approximately 400 flats. Together with other instruments for the development of the housing stock, we hope to have roughly 2,400 rental flats in our portfolio by 2030.

In addition to the city's own resources, we mainly use subsidies intended for the development of housing, such as a loan from the State Fund for Housing Development or a form of non-repayable subsidy from the Ministry of Transport, or a combination thereof, as with the Muchovo Square project, to finance the construction of rental apartment buildings. Although the Ministry of Transport subsidies and SFRB loans do not cover the whole cost of the projects, they represent a key source of funding for new rental housing.

The apartment building on Terchovská Street, where the process of gaining permission is underway, is the project currently closest to the start of further construction. Projects on Žitavská Street and Janíkov dvor are in the initial stages. For the project on Žitavská Street, the city has completed an architectural study, we have made the first public presentation of the project to the residents, and we are starting work on the project documentation and the necessary permits. The project will be implemented once we obtain the necessary permits. In the case of Janíkov dvor, we have completed the architectural tender for the project. At the end of this period or at the beginning of the next period, we would like to commence renovation of two unused apartment buildings on Zámocké schody and Velehradská Street, where a total of 16 apartments will be built. In Záhorská Bystrica, the reconstruction of the former dormitory will provide the city with up to 75 new flats. This project is currently pending following the submission of a building permit, and an implementation project is in preparation. We expect the renovation to start in 2024.

For many years, Bratislava has trailed well below the European average in providing affordable rental housing. The city owns less than 1% of the total housing stock in Bratislava. By comparison, Brno owns up to 15%, whereas Vienna is in direct ownership of up to a quarter of the city's housing stock. In Vienna, for example, up to 60% of the total number of flats fall within the category of urban rental housing, while the equivalent in Bratislava is only 0.2%.