THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC INTENDS TO PREVENT AN INCREASE OF RENTS FOR APARTMENTS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC INTENDS TO PREVENT AN INCREASE OF RENTS FOR APARTMENTS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

The Government of the Czech Republic approved at its meeting on April 23, 2020, a proposal for a so-called price moratorium on rent increases for apartment leases, which was submitted by the Ministry of Finance, headed by Alena Schillerová.

The aim of the proposal is to prevent an increase in rents for apartment leases for the duration of the current emergency situation caused by the spread of Covid-19. The proposal was adopted by the Government in the form of a Government Regulation, which entered into force on the same day. The effects of the Regulation will end automatically on the day when the crisis measures will be repealed, or even earlier, if the government deems it appropriate.

According to Schillerová, this moratorium gives people the certainty that in the current situation their housing costs will not increase, as even a small increase in rent can cause people an existential problem, the Regulation thus responds to the decline in income of households. According to the explanatory memorandum, the Regulation is then accepted as insurance against the abuse of a stronger position of the landlord vis-à-vis the tenant.

The Regulation also applies to cases where the lease relationship is terminated during the lease term, and a new lease relationship is concluded during the crisis measures. In these cases, the landlord is obliged to require the rent that does not exceed the amount of rent for which he leased the apartment to its last tenant.

The regulation is issued following the Act on Certain Measures to Mitigate the Impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Epidemic on Tenants of Housing Needs. This proposal was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on April 22, 2020 and will take effect upon signature by the president and its subsequent publication.

For more information on this subject, please feel free to contact:

JUDr. Monika Rutland, partner

rutland & partners, law firm

tel: +420 226 226 026

email: monika.rutland@rutlands.cz