State of Housing Rights

In the Czech Republic, the constitution is not formed by one constitutional act, as it comprises several constitutional acts. Apart from the Constitution of the Czech Republic proper, promulgated as the Constitutional Act No. 1/1993 Coll., the constitution in the broader sense comprises above all the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, adopted as the Constitutional Act No. 2/1993 Coll.  The right to housing/right to an adequate housing is not included in the constitutional legal norms. 

The Article 30 of the Charter may be relevant in the housing rights context, stipulating the right of citizens to adequate material security in old age and during periods of work incapacity, as well as in the case of the loss of their provider. Everyone who suffers from material need has the right to such assistance as is necessary to ensure her a basic living standard. Detailed provisions shall be set by law. According to the Article 41 par. 1 of the Charter, rights listed in Article 30 of the Charter may be claimed only within the confines of the laws implementing these provisions. 

 

Within the under-constitutional legislation, the right to (an adequate) housing is also not explicitly regulated. Individual legal acts include regulation of partial aspects of the issue, the most important examples follow:

The Act No. 40/1964 Coll., the Civil Code, contains basic regulation of contracts relevant for housing issues. It distinguishes three types of housing contracts: a lease, a sublease and a contract of accommodation. These types differ regarding the level of the  legal protection for the landlord and the accommodated person or tenant. In general, a lease is intended above all for long-term housing, while a sublease and a contract of accomodation are intended for temporary accomodation (with lower level of legal protection). Before April 2006, a tenant could be evicted by a landlord exclusively with the preceding consent of a court in all cases; from 31.3.2006 if the reasons of the notice lie on the side of the tenant, the tenant may be evicted without preliminary court control. The tenant has the possibility to file an action to the court claiming the invalidity of the notice, within the time period of 60 days. The possible reasons for lease notice are explicitly listed by the Civil Code, as well as legal rules for providing  replacement accommodation for evicted tenants. The lessor can give a lease notice only with a court consent for example if he needs the flat for himself or for a close family member, if the tenant ceased work for the lessor and the lessor needs the company flat for a new employee, in cases of public interest or if a flat is associated with a commercial space and the lessor wants to carry out such business. Termination of a lease without court consent is possible if the tenant or members of their household violate good manners in the house despite a written warning, if a tenant grossly violates their duties regarding the flat lease (especially by non-payment of the rent and costs associated with using the flat equal to three months rent and costs associated with using the flat), if a tenant has two or more flats except cases when they cannot be justly required to use only one flat, if a tenant, without sufficient reasons, does not use the flat or they only use the flat occasionally without sufficient reasons, if the flat is a special purpose flat or a flat in a special purpose house and the tenant is  not a disabled person.  In case of a lease notice the tenant shall receive replacement accommodation, of the type that is decided by a court during the process of deciding on court consent to a lease notice. There are three types of accommodation replacement: substitution flat (a flat that is, with respect to local conditions, equal to the flat which is to be vacated), substitution accommodation (a studio or a room in a boarding house or sublease in a furnished or unfurnished part of another tenant’s flat) and under certain conditions a shelter (a provisional arrangement until a tenant obtains regular housing and space to store furniture and flat equipment and other things of a housing and personal nature). In general, in cases when the lanlord needs the court approval to the eviction, a tenant is eligible to an appropriate substitute flat, and in case of a lease notice for reasons that are not subject to court consent, a tenant is eligible only to a shelter. Only in case of a family with under-aged children or reasons requiring special concern based on a tenant’s proposal, a court can rule a claim for replacement accommodation or a substitute flat also in these cases. 

 

The Act No. 128/2000 Coll., on Municipalities regulates the legal position and responsibilities of municipalities (cities) as local autonomous authorities. According to the Art. 2 par. 2 of the Act, the municipality takes care of the all-round development of its territory and of the needs of its citizens; when fulfilling its tasks, the municipality also protects public interest. According to the Art. 35 par. 2 of the Act, the municipality within its autonomous competency, within its territory and under local conditions and local practice takes care of creating conditions for the development of social care and securing needs of its citizens, especially meeting the needs of housing, health protection, transportation, access to information, needs of education, cultural development and protection of public order. No more explicit regulation of meeting the needs of housing are not included. Each municipality/city may issue its own internal regulation on the access of their citizens to housing (to rental municipality flats), as according to the Article 104 of the Constitution representative bodies of municipalities shall have jurisdiction in matters of self-government, to the extent such matters are not entrusted by statute to the representative bodies of higher self-governing regions and they may, within the limits of their jurisdiction, issue generally binding ordinances.

 

The Act No. 198/2009 Coll., on equal treatment and on the legal means of protection against discrimination and on amendment to some laws (the Anti-Discrimination Act) bans i.a. explicitly the discrimination in the access to goods and services, including housing, to the extent as they are offered to the public, or in their supply. 

 

The Act No. 99/1963 Coll., the Civil Procedure Code regulates the so-called shift of the burden of evidence within the proceedings dealing with discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin also in cases of discrimination in the access to housing. 

 

The Act No 117/1995 Coll., on the State Social Support, the Act No 111/2006 Coll., on the Help in Material Need and related acts regulating the system of social benefits include social benefits directly aimed at covering the housing expenses of families in social need (housing allowance). The legal institute of a substitute receiver may be used as a legal instrument of protection against loss of housing for non-payment of rent, as a substitute receiver of social benefits can be appointed in case a receiver of social benefits does not use them for the purpose given, e.g. to pay their rent. Such appointment can take place even without the tenant’s consent. A substitute receiver (e.g. the the house/flat owner) can in this way receive rent payments directly from the authority paying the housing allowance. 

 

The special legislation on social housing has been discussed for several years in the Czech Republic, but until present no legal regulation has been approved.