Experts: The crisis could be resolved by converting smaller apartments into more rooms

Prague - Apartments with fewer square meters but more rooms would currently be the ideal solution for many home-seekers. Smaller apartment sizes could reduce the financial inaccessibility of housing. Prospective apartment buyers would save on purchase or rent, on energy costs for operating larger spaces, and at the same time, could afford the layouts they desire the most. Experts across the construction spectrum agreed on this during a recent discussion about the future of rental housing in the Czech Republic. According to some, however, only older apartments could be converted in this way. Developers and current legislation are hindering the construction of new apartments with similar parameters.

According to analyst Adam Greguš from the development company JRD Real Estate, Czechs are seeking larger layout apartments for various reasons. However, these are financially more costly and less accessible. According to experts, the ideal solution would be to construct apartments with 3+KK rooms and more, but fewer square meters. "According to my estimates, the Prague housing stock consists of 60 to 70 percent of apartments with 3+KK layouts or more. In the last five to ten years, developers have primarily built 1+KK and 2+KK layouts. Therefore, we are looking at ensuring that projects we want to provide for rent are easily transformable by architects and that the housing stock is efficient and useful," Greguš said at last week's discussion.

The trend of shrinking apartments was also confirmed by architect Erika Bohatá from Capexus, who designs building interiors. "It’s always about smart interior solutions. Many hidden storage spaces can be designed. An apartment of 50 square meters can also be 3+KK," Bohatá stated.

According to Martin Němec, an architect and co-founder of the ADNS architects studio, it is possible to convert smaller apartments into units with additional living rooms. However, these would have to be older end-unit, for example corner apartments, having two or three facades oriented towards multiple cardinal directions. "A colleague in our ADNS architects studio has current experience with converting an apartment where a family realized a unit from 2+1 to a size of 3+KK in an end position of an old panel building. The apartment size is only 56 square meters. However, the apartment has neither storage spaces nor a dressing room," said Němec to ČTK. He also added that new construction of smaller apartments with multiple rooms is currently not entirely realistic. It is hindered by developer requirements and conditions stated in the building law, according to which this would only create units without a certificate of occupancy.

"For an apartment 3+KK, the living room must have a minimum area of 16 square meters, a bedroom for two people 12 square meters, and a room for one person eight square meters. The minimum width of the room must be 3.30 meters. At the same time, it is necessary to meet the requirements for daylight in each room, which defines whether a room can be considered residential. In the above example, the living room is only 15 square meters, which would conflict with the law for the construction of a new apartment." Němec added.

According to the latest data from the analytical company Deloitte, the average price of an apartment in the Czech Republic was 93,300 crowns per square meter, and rent was 272 CZK per square meter. The most expensive apartments are in Prague, where sellers on average ask for 156,000 crowns per square meter and 373 crowns for the rent of one square meter. Conversely, the cheapest housing is found in the Ústí nad Labem Region.