Development of Housing Projects
Enabling the people of Bratislava to live affordably and with dignity
Rental housing is an important pillar of urban housing, but in our city it is extremely neglected. Indeed, Bratislava is the worst off out of all the Visegrád Four capitals – it has the lowest number of urban rental flats. The city is therefore working to provide more affordable rental housing.
Why does Bratislava need rental housing?
There is a complete lack of rental flats in Bratislava as a way to provide affordable housing. We want Bratislava to be a city for everyone – and that means also for people with average and lower incomes and those who cannot afford to own property. We should all have the opportunity to live with dignity.
Who should rental housing be for?
We need rental housing for people working in important occupations that are essential for the city: e.g. municipal police officers, caregivers, firefighters, nurses, and teachers, who are in short supply in Bratislava.
If we are to attract such people to work in the public sector and base their careers on it, the possibility of rental housing can be an important motivator. Regarding this, we want to cooperate with the city boroughs and with the Slovak government and relevant government institutions.
The city of Bratislava has a legal obligation to provide replacement rental housing for more than 500 tenants from restituted flats.
Last but not least, we want to help provide housing for people and families who have found themselves temporarily in a difficult living situation. We currently have a large number of applicants on waiting lists for city rental housing, and the insufficient number of flats has unfortunately resulted in excessive waiting times.
How is Bratislava doing with rental housing?
Rental housing is an important pillar of urban housing, but in Bratislava it has been extremely neglected. Only about 1% of all flats in Bratislava are urban rental flats. By comparison, in Brno it is 15 percent. In Vienna it is up to 30 percent – with another 30 percent being rent-regulated apartments owned by non-profit companies.
The EU average is around 10%.
Documents
Current projects
A new municipal apartment building will offer residents rental housing, improved surroundings and a public park
At an online meeting in April 2021, representatives of the city and the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava (MIB) presented a project plan for the revitalisation of urban land to the residents of Janíkov dvor (Janík’s Court) in Petržalka.
According to the plan, an apartment building intended for rental housing and a park-and-ride (P+R) multi-storey car park are to be built near the planned tram stop of Janíkov dvor. It should primarily serve to relieve the city’s road infrastructure by allowing commuters and visitors to leave their vehicles here and continue their journey to other parts of the city by means of the newly-built tram line.
Nearly three quarters of the site to be developed will be public space that will serve the entire neighbourhood. The project will also include the revitalisation of other surrounding land owned by the city, including the intention to build a new public park. The plan is likely to include moving the terminus of other public transport lines closer to the new tram route. There will also be a new space for community amenities.
The apartment building and the multi-storey car park will be designed together in the form of an architectural competition which will be organised by the Competition Section of the MIB. The launch of the competition itself and the specification of other requirements will be accompanied by a participatory process led by the Urban Studies and Participation Section.
Until 7 May 2021, the inhabitants of the area could submit their opinions and suggestions using a form which helped set the conditions for the architectural competition and which allowed them to comment on their requirements for the public space – such as resolving the issue of a lack of amenities in the vicinity. If you have any questions, you can contact us at participacia@mib.sk.
The details of the project were first presented to the residents of the neighbourhood in the form of an online presentation. A recording of the meeting and the presentation itself can be found below.
A success story: up to 103 rental flats and amenities instead of commercial housing
A commercial housing project by a private developer was originally meant to be built in this location; however, the land was repossessed by Metro Bratislava a.s. and an urban rental housing project with benefits for the inhabitants of the surrounding area in the form of a public park and community amenities will be built here instead.
In the first stage of the project, which is currently being prepared by the city, there is a proposal to build a residential building with 103 flats on eight floors and with a usable area of 5030 m2.
There will be fifty-two rental flats (e.g. for important occupations needed in the city: municipal police officers, caregivers, firefighters, nurses, teachers, etc.) and fifty-one replacement rental flats (the city has a legal obligation to provide replacement rental housing for more than 500 tenants affected by the restitution process).
In addition to rental flats, the urban rental housing project on Muchovo Square will bring community amenities and a public park with a total area of approximately 3065 m2 (after the completion of both phases of the project) offering activities for youth, senior citizens and families with children.
The final form of the park as well as the use of the spaces for community amenities can be influenced by residents from the surrounding neighbourhood. As a first step, we organised an informative meeting with residents in September 2020. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the first meeting was held online. The aim was to introduce the project and define the framework for participation.
The construction date is preliminarily scheduled for 2022/2023, depending on the granting of all the necessary permits.
Community spaces, yards and harmony with the neighbourhood: Ružinov will also have quality rental housing
A residential complex with urban rental flats will bring more than eighty new rental flats to the urban part of Ružinov. Parking spaces will be added for future and current residents alongside other community amenities.
The winning design of the housing complex emerged from an architectural competition, which involved seventy-six proposals. The design of the winning studio, The Büro, brings an excellent urban solution and harmony with the surrounding buildings, a solution to common and community spaces, and well-designed inner courtyards.
After the urban planning and architectural competition, the comments resulting from the participation with residents will be incorporated into the winning design. After the preparation of the project documentation, which may take approximately two years, the construction of the housing complex itself could begin in 2022.
More information about the winning design and the architectural competition can be found HERE.
How can the city get new flats?
Reconstruction of apartments and buildings
The city renovates apartments and buildings that it owns or has acquired and that are unused and in poor condition.
Construction
The city will build its own rental apartments on its own land and in locations, where such construction is possible and appropriate.
Part of the preparation of new projects will be architectural competitions or participation with residents, so that the new apartment buildings serve not only the tenants, but also the surrounding area as well as possible.
This is also why the city will communicate the city's intentions even before the construction itself at meetings with the residents of the affected location and respond to their suggestions.
An example is the architectural competition for an apartment building on Terchovská street.
Cooperation with the private sector
In accordance with the State Housing Policy Concept, the city is preparing steps towards cooperating with the private sector in the area of affordable rental housing.
One option is the acquisition of new housing built by the private sector for the city’s rental housing portfolio. Another option is involvement in joint projects with financial institutions.