Housing in Slovakia may nit be as expensive as some indicators suggest. (source: TASR)
The law on rental housing that MPs have passed on May 25 should serve as the legal basis for the rental housing policy the coalition has set among its priorities.
The law, authored by Sme Rodina, addresses the problems regarding the lack of accessible housing for wide groups of inhabitants.
126 of the present 130 MPs voted in favour of the law. Sme Rodina's leader, Speaker of Parliament Boris Kollár, asserted that a number of investors are ready to start building state-supported rental flats. An Austrian investor promised to invest €500 million in the first rental flats, he said as reported by the TASR newswire.
Under the law, there should be a clear specification on the procurement of rental flats by landlords who want to provide flats as part of the state support programme for rental housing. The law also expands the possibilities of acquiring flats through shares in companies that own the respective buildings.
The required minimum for rental housing projects is set at 20 flats. The government has the right to cap the rents, differing by the region or project in question.
Employers to help with rent
To regulate and help with the housing demand, a new agency for supporting state rental housing is set to be created. Its rights include issuing approvals for housing projects, including its financing and overseeing the project implementation.
Employers will receive the chance to help their employees with state-supported rental housing via an allowance exempted from income and payroll taxes.
The lowering of VAT on procuring state-supported rental flats has also decreased from 20 to 5 percent. This lowered VAT applies to landlords registered in the agency’s list of landlords who own the residential building.
