The Czech government has decided to expand the national address and property register to include data on individual flats. This will, for the first time, provide a complete overview of the country’s housing stock.
In mid-October, the Czech government approved an expansion of the Register of Territorial Identification, Addresses and Real Estate (RÚIAN). From now on, basic information about individual flats will also be recorded – a step that closes a long-standing gap in the country’s housing data.
Until now, the state dataset contained information on buildings, plots and addresses, but not on the flats themselves. Under the new regulation, each housing unit will receive a unique identification code – similar to the way streets or buildings have their own numbers. The register will include only technical basic data:
- an automatically assigned flat code (ID),
- the flat number within a building,
- the floor,
- the usable area.
Personal or economic information – such as details about owners, tenants or furnishings – will not be recorded. Responsibility for administration will remain with the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre (ČÚZK), which has managed the national address and property register since its introduction in 2012.
“It is not about creating a new population register or any form of surveillance. We are merely adding four technical items that the state already records through various means,” explained Minister for Regional Development Petr Kulhánek. “This will save time and money in future censuses and improve the basis for housing policy, which until now has often relied on data that is ten years old. In Western Europe, such data collection has long been standard.”
According to the ministry, the expansion will not incur any additional costs for the state budget – on the contrary: centralised data collection is expected to reduce administrative expenses and relieve citizens of unnecessary documentation requirements. An up-to-date overview of the actual housing stock is also crucial for effective housing policy – from planning municipal construction projects and infrastructure to assessing regional housing needs or the energy efficiency of buildings.
The expanded address and property register will also help the country meet European requirements. An EU regulation on statistics for population, buildings and dwellings (ESOPH) obliges member states to provide regular, up-to-date data – in some cases every three years, in others annually. Without the expanded register, the Czech Republic would be unable to comply with these requirements.
The first phase of implementation is to be completed within two years of the adoption of the legislative amendment, i.e. by the end of 2029. The expanded register is expected to be fully operational for the population, building and housing census of 2031.
