This chapter explains housing assistance in the Czech Republic. Low-income families and individuals for whom the market costs of housing are too high are eligible.

The benefit explained is the following:

• housing allowance (příspěvek na bydlení).

In what situation can I claim?

If housing costs account for an excessive portion of an individual's or family's budget, they can claim housing allowance (příspěvek na bydlení) from the State.

Property owners (either in private or in cooperative form) and tenants or subtenants having residence at the given housing unit can claim housing allowance. It does not matter whether it concerns living in an apartment or a house. The number of household members and their income are taken into consideration when providing this benefit.

The form of housing is expected to match the applicant's social situation and house or flat expenses must be reasonable.

What conditions do I need to meet?

The basic condition is permanent residence and habitual residence in the Czech Republic. Permanent residence is not requested if directly applicable EU legislation is applied. Other nationals listed in the act may apply for this benefit.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Ministerstvo práce a sociálních věcí) can waive the condition of permanent residence in justified cases.

This benefit is conditional on:

• the family's ‘decisive’ income (rozhodný příjem);
• the costs of housing.

Family decisive income is the sum of the incomes of all its members having residence at the location concerned. Earnings as well as some social benefits, for instance child allowance and parental allowance are included in this income.

Housing costs exceeding 30%  of family decisive income is the first eligibility condition.

Example:

The second eligibility condition is that 30%  of decisive income cannot exceed standardised costs for the specific type of housing given the location and number of persons in the residence.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs publishes the table of standardised costs for the current year.

An example for a family of three living in a rented flat in Písek:

* This example applies to rented apartments with three tenants in cities to 69,999 residents in 2023. (Standardised housing costs are used for calculation only if real housing costs are higher than standardised.).

Housing costs for the purposes of this benefit are considered average costs for the previous calendar quarter. These costs include rent as well as costs for utilities, services, energy and waste disposal.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Housing allowance is paid monthly for as long as eligibility continues.

The amount is calculated as the difference between the standardised cost of housing and 30% of family threshold income.

Example:

Jargon busters

• Standardised housing costs (normativní náklady na bydlení) are the State-defined costs for specific locations, types of housing and number of persons in a household. These costs are the basic parameter for calculating the benefit.
• Decisive income (rozhodný příjem) is the sum of the income of all persons with permanent residence in a common household including some social benefits.

Forms you may need

• Housing allowance application (Žádost o příspěvek na bydlení) (in Czech);
• Proof of quarterly income (Doklad o výši čtvrtletního příjmu), required to determine entitlement to the benefit (in Czech);
• Proof of housing costs (Doklad o výši nákladů na bydlení) (in Czech);

All forms to be found under: Other required forms - in Czech.

Know your rights

These links do not lead to European Commission websites and do not represent the views of the European Commission:

• Rights and conditions for providing housing allowance (Práva a podmínky příspěvku na bydlení);
• Act on State Social Support (Zákon o státní sociální podpoře) (in Czech);
• State social support (mpsv.cz), in English.

European Commission publications and websites:

• http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=849&langId=en

Useful contacts

Labour Office of the Czech Republic (Úřad práce České republiky)
Contact counselling centre:
Tel. +420 844844803
kontaktni.centrum@mpsv.cz, callcentrum@mpsv.cz

List of the Labour Office's regional offices and contact points (in Czech): https://www.uradprace.cz/web/cz/kontakty-2

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo práce a sociálních věcí ČR)
Na Poříčním právu 1/376
128 01 Prague 2
CZECH REPUBLIC
Tel. +420 221921111
Data box: sc9aavg

Website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic in English https://www.mpsv.cz/web/en