Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Large-scale residential developments could be newly designated as projects in the public interest under a proposed amendment to the Building Act submitted by members of the governing coalition formed by ANO, SPD and the Motorists. According to the draft legislation, this would apply to residential buildings with a total floor area exceeding 10,000 sq m, typically comprising at least 100 apartments.
The proposal is scheduled to be discussed by the cabinet on Tuesday and is expected to come into force in mid-2026. The draft bill and accompanying explanatory memorandum have been published on the Chamber of Deputies’ website.
The amendment is part of a broader revision of construction legislation prepared by ANO, which aims to simplify and accelerate permitting procedures. The proposal introduces the principle of “one office, one procedure and one decision,” eliminating the current parallel approval processes and reducing the number of binding opinions issued by multiple authorities.
Under the draft, a newly established Office for the Development of the Territory of the Czech Republic would be responsible for deciding on so-called reserved buildings, including large-scale housing projects, through a single-stage procedure. Construction officials currently employed by regional and municipal authorities would be transferred to the new office. According to the proposal, they would receive a one-off financial adjustment reflecting the difference between their current salaries and new remuneration in the state administration, which would be increased by 10 percent.
The new office would operate as a centralized state authority, combining existing construction-related competencies from the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Transport, and the Transport and Energy Construction Authority. It would oversee 14 regional offices, including one in Prague, supported by 205 local workplaces in municipalities with extended powers. Additional local offices could be established depending on regional needs. Municipalities would retain responsibility primarily for spatial planning.
According to the explanatory memorandum, the aim of the reform is to introduce an integrated permitting system managed by a single authority for construction projects requiring approval under the Building Act. “The integrated procedure, with the minimum number of separate underlying decisions, completes one permitting process with the possibility of a single integrated administrative and judicial review,” the document states. The amendment would also introduce the possibility of expropriation for the construction of transport and technical infrastructure connections.
Further changes include a new mechanism allowing municipalities to collect compensation from landowners whose property values increase as a result of changes to zoning or spatial planning documentation, provided that the landowner consented to or requested the change. The amount and payment terms of such compensation would be set by municipal decree.
The sponsors of the bill acknowledge that the reform would have both one-off and recurring impacts on the state budget, including costs related to staff training, IT investments and operating expenses of the new system of building authorities. Part of these costs would be offset by reduced transfers to regions and municipalities for delegated administrative tasks.
According to the explanatory memorandum, “the adoption of the bill will lead to significant economic recovery and economic growth, and thus an increase in state tax revenues, thanks to the substantial acceleration and streamlining of spatial planning and building permitting procedures.”
Source: CTK
