From next Monday, 5 May, applications will open for the remaining apartments in the cooperative housing project in Kamenný vrch. Previous applicants have occupied about two-thirds of the apartments, about 100 of them remain vacant. On Tuesday, Brno city councillors updated the criteria and specified the application procedure.
The Kamenný vrch II Affordable Housing Cooperative has existed since 2022, but so far its members are the City of Brno and the municipal companies Teplárny Brno and Realitní společnost města Brna. As the construction is approaching, the flats will soon be filled by other members of the cooperative: young people who applied to join in 2018 and 2022, and were recently asked to confirm their interest.
“Last month, we presented the applicants from the previous waves with a draft of new criteria and specific price levels that we are counting on during construction,” said Karin Podivinská, Deputy Mayor of Brno. “Based on this, they were to confirm whether they were still interested in apartments on Kamenný vrch. We received just over 200 affirmative responses. This means that more people can now apply for around 100 apartments, starting on 5 May on the website bydleni.brno.cz.”
Applications are open to all Czech or EU citizens between 18 and 45 years old, according to certain financial criteria.
The estimated cost of the apartment units in Kamenný vrch are CZK 97,000 per 1 m2, and the cost of the entire project is expected to reach more than CZK 2.5 billion. Because prices have increased since the two previous waves of applications, the council has clarified the income criteria. New applicants must have a household income of:
- (for apartments from 50 to 70 m2) – minimum CZK 55,000 and maximum CZK 90,000
- (for apartments from 70 to 85 m2) – minimum CZK 65,000 and maximum CZK 90,000
- (for apartments over 85 m2) – minimum CZK 75,000 and maximum CZK 100,000
Apartments smaller than 50 m2 are not included in Kamenný vrch.
Applicants will join the cooperative after the building has been approved and the city deposits have been settled. Before that, they will pay a reservation fee of CZK 100,000 when concluding the reservation contract. The amount of the additional membership deposit then varies:
a) 15% of the price of the apartment when concluding the contract on the future contract of joining the cooperative, the remaining additional payment (up to 25% of the price of the apartment) when joining the cooperative
b) 25% of the price of the apartment when concluding the contract on the future contract of joining the cooperative
c) 50% of the price of the apartment when concluding the contract on the future contract of joining the cooperative
The additional membership deposit includes the CZK 100,000 reservation deposit.
“We wanted to use this variability to cover the various life situations in which applicants may find themselves having joined the project three or even seven years ago. Some of them have managed to save enough money during that time to be able to pay a higher membership fee now, so they do not have to take out such a high loan and will have lower installments,” explained Podivinská.
Cooperative members will also sign an agreement that prohibits any trading in apartments, including a ban on subletting.
The construction at Kamenný vrch is expected to include more than 300 apartments in the first stage. A building permit has already been obtained for part of the project, while another part is still pending. It should be completed in 2029.
