Czechia's outdated system of construction permits has long been a thorn in the side of developers and building companies. That is the main factor why is price of buildings so high. Now efforts to digitize it are threatening the stability of the government.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bartoš from the Pirate Party is under fire from all sides. The opposition is calling for his resignation, and even governing coalition partners are questioning his competence. Why? Over persistent problems with the newly digitized system of construction management.

Czechia became a country where about 80 percent of people own their own homes. Since new millenia many households owned by local townhalls were privatized. This is why many Czech citizens got their apartments for very reasonable price. But new Czech generations grew up, and they did not have the benefit of gaining their living quarters cheaply from the state. This created pressure to build new housing.

Czech lawmakers kept trying to improve the legislation, but with every new amendment, the construction law became even more complicated. Since new governemnt took place one of main targets was to implement brand new online system which would speed up approval process in buliding industry. 

Everything seemed on the right track, but it all crashed spectacularly when his ministry launched a brand new digital system for issuing building permits at the beginning of July. It did not, and still does not, work. There are problems even accessing the system. What was supposed to accelerate the process and make it more straightforward has made it even more cumbersome.

Hopefuly these obstacels will be overcomed in near future.

Source: RadioPrague