Exercise: Slovaks still drawn to satellite towns

This exercise is linked to the articles:  Slovaks still drawn to satellite towns​ and  Rentals perceived as temporary solution for the young

People prefer their own housing rather than rentals.People prefer their own housing rather than rentals. (Source: SME)

Slovakia belongs to countries with the highest share of privately owned housing and less than 10 percent of people live in rental properties. According to real estate experts, most people consider this kind of accommodation a short-term solution.

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“This means that mostly young people use this possibility as their first housing or temporary accommodation during a working trip and the like,” Filip Žoldák of Herrys real estate agency told the TASR newswire.

One big group living in rented housing is students. “We expect that the interest in rentals will increase shortly before the summer holidays and especially during the third quarter when the statistics are significantly affected by the movement of students,” said Lexus analyst Michal Zajíček, as quoted by TASR.

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Head of the National Association of Real Estate Agencies in Slovakia (NARKS) Ján Palenčár said that tenants, as compared to owners, have the advantage of flexibility and can terminate leases quickly in a case where they change jobs or face changing accommodation needs.  Moreover, they do not have as many duties as owners.

Experts emphasize that the lease needs to contain the time of renting the flat, the price of rent, the way and notice period for terminating the agreement and the responsibility for possible repairs, TASR wrote.

The most frequent factors impacting the decision to buy a flat are a stable job, enough money and the desire to have a family. Moreover, people are motivated to have their own housing also by historically low interest rates on mortgages, good prices and the sufficient supply of new buildings, as reported by TASR.

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Vocabulary: agricultural land, amenities, amiable, board of directors, bustle, developer, income tax, interest rate,  lease,  long for, mortgage, municipality, notice period, owner, peak, permanent residency, private ownership, rural area, rent, rental property, satellite town, share, short-term, tenant, terraced house, terminate, vane,

 

Intro – answer the following questions.

I Do you live in a flat or a house? What are your typical expenses related to housing?

II What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a flat or a house?

III Do you own your dwelling or do you rent it?

IV What is more beneficial for young people - to rent or to buy a house/flat? Why?

V Which of the followings is the best option to finance your own housing: own resources, borrow money from your friends, borrow money from your parents, mortgage?    

 

I Check the meanings of the following words. If not sure, use the hints below for help.

1 share        

2 privately owned

3 rental property

4 real estate

5 short-term

6 tenant

7 owner

8 terminate

9 lease

10 rent

11 notice period

12 interest rate

13 mortgage

 

Hints: I have 55%, you have only 30%. My share is larger.

I forgot my book. Don´t worry, we can share mine.

Corporation can sell shares to collect money from investors.

You cannot enter this garden. It is privately owned - not public.

There is a new rental property in our town. 3 room flats for 300 EUR a month.

Investment in real estate, I mean buildings and houses, is better than saving money.

My short-term goal is to improve my Spanish grammar in 3 weeks.

This house is not mine. I am just a tenant and I pay the rent to the owner every month.

I cannot leave my work all of a sudden. I must complete a two month notice period before my contract terminates.

I lease one room in my house to some students. They are very nice tenants.

If I need money to buy a house, I can take a mortgage at my bank. The interest rate is low so that I won´t pay much interest.

 

II Some words can have several different meanings. Translate all of the meanings of share into your own language? Does it change grammatical categories?

A, I have 55%, you have only 30%. My share is larger.

B, I forgot my book. Don´t worry, we can share mine.

C, Corporation can sell shares to collect money from investors.

D, He has eaten his share but he still wants more cake.

E, I share a passion for classical music with my brother. We both love Mozart.

If two (or more) words have different roots, they are homonyms and in a dictionary you find them listed as separate entries. But polysemous words have a common root and related meanings.

 

Read the main article about Satellites and answer the following questions.

III, Identifying the main idea: Which of the headlines best summarises the paragraphs A – F.

1, Culture requires travelling

2, My house - my castle

3, Pay to the common budget

4, Attracted by the price

5, Population growth in villages

6, Satellite towns widely available

 

IV, decide whether the following statements are True or False and find evidence in the text!

1, People who move to the satellite towns often register with the local doctors.

2, Satellite towns have been popular since the 1980s. 

3, People without permanent residence do not contribute towards education and canalisation in the satellite town.

4, Satellite towns are sought by the people who prefer to own their house, not to rent a flat.

5, Higher price in the satellite towns does not reflect the quality of the house or the flat.

6, The problems with transport will result in people staying in the big cities.

 

Answers – to the questions on the main article:

II Share in Slovak
A - podiel, B - podeliť sa o, C - akcie/cenné papiere, D - svoju porciu/čo mu patrí, E - zdieľať/mať spoločný záujem

III, identifying the main idea:

1 - E

2 - F

3 - D

4 - B

5 - C

6 – A

 

IV, 1, People who move to the satellite towns often register with the local doctors.

F, Most people also keep doctors in the city centre, though they move to the satellites,”

2, Satellite towns have been popular since the 1980s.  T - F

F, The first satellite towns appeared in Slovakia in the 1990s

3, People without permanent residence do not contribute towards education and canalisation in the satellite town.

T, they do not pay their full share of income taxes to the local authorities

4, Satellite towns are sought by the people who prefer to own their house, not to rent a flat.

T, One of the reasons is that Slovaks live in their own accommodation rather than in a rented one.

5, Higher price in the satellite towns does not reflect the quality of the house or the flat.

F, better price compared to the city and higher quality flat or house for the price

6, The problems with transport will result in people staying in the big cities.

F, No, but people will be more careful when analysing the reasons why to stay in the main city or town

This exercise is published as part of Spectator College, a programme created by The Slovak Spectator  with the support of Petit Academy Foundation.

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