<p>Private capital may possibly enter state housing support.</p>

Prague - Money for the State Housing Development Fund (SFRB) may be provided by the private sector in the future. The state fund has nearly exhausted its own resources and cannot rely too much on the state budget for financing. A solution is, for example, the involvement of private investors, banks, or funds, said SFRB director Ľubomír Vais at a housing seminar today.
    "Attempts to connect the housing fund to the state budget have been unsuccessful in the recent past. The only option remains to seek sources outside public budgets," stated Vais. In recent years, the SFRB mainly obtained funding from transfers of money from the former National Property Fund.
    New sources of state housing support will need to be stable, according to Miroslav Kalous, the Deputy Minister for Regional Development. "It's bad when the state announces a series of programs one year and then discovers the next year that it doesn't have the money for them, leading to their cancellation or discontinuation," said the MMR representative.
    A new financing method for the SFRB will be developed under the upcoming change to the state housing concept. According to Vais, its rough version will be completed by mid-May. The government is expected to have the material on the table by the end of June at the latest.
    However, work on the new housing concept is being hampered by a lack of data. "In recent years, we have all noticed certain turbulence in the residential market. We are not even clear whether there are too few or enough apartments," noted the head of the SFRB. Current census data could provide the numbers, but the results will be available too late, Kalous stated. "That would mean we should have the new state housing concept only in 2013," concluded the deputy.

    State housing support according to concluded contracts (in millions CZK; excludes social benefits from MPSV and tax deductions from MF):

Year	State Housing Development Fund	Ministry for Regional Development	SFRB + MMR
2001	3999	1156	5155
2002	6678	1128	7806
2003	4765	1642	6407
2004	2777	1485	4262
2005	4456	1399	5855
2006	3944	1078	5022
2007	6823	923	7746
2008	2905	435	3340
2009	3634	540	4174
2010	2066	539	2605
2011	1301*	450*	1751*

    * estimate from MMR
    Source: MMR