Thousands of properties in the Czech Republic may come under state control. This applies to abandoned property as well as real estate, about which there is a lack of data in the cadastre.

There are currently 152,000 lots and 4,000 buildings in the Czech Republic without an owner. At the end of 2023, there will have been 10 years during which the missing owners of abandoned plots could claim possession. When that deadline (set by the Civil Code) expires, the forgotten property will be seized by the state. 

«If the owner does not show up, correct, or complete the data, the property will be turned over to the state as of Jan. 1, 2024,» said Michaela Tesarova, a spokeswoman of the Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs (ÚZSVM).

After nationalization, some confiscated land and buildings will be handed over to various kinds of state institutions or municipalities. If there is no interest from the institutions, they will be auctioned off.

The introduction of these properties into the market is not expected to have a significant impact on housing prices or affordability. Nevertheless, the general increase in market prices is affecting the fact that buyers are paying attention to even small plots of land.

«Even sites that appear to be worthless can be worth thousands of korunas.» «Also, developers may be interested in such sites,» said Michal Hlaváček, professor of the Institute for Economic Research at Charles University.

 

There is also an opinion in the country that not only properties without an owner should be taken into account, but also those that are not taken care of by their owners. 

«It’s fine if you’re a rich person and you have a lot of real estate, but it’s not normal for objects to fall into disrepair,» said Petr Zeman, representative of the organization Prázdné domy.

Zeman also believes that a huge number of abandoned buildings were formed after the Velvet Revolution, after which many foreigners bought houses in the country. However, after a while, they lost interest and stopped looking after these objects.