Czech initiative finds housing for Romani residential hotel evictees
The Romani families evacuated from the Předlice quarter of Ústí nad Labem who remained in the residential hotel on Čelakovského street in the Krásné Březno quarter after its closure have all found new housing. The families have started moving into properties in the the Klíše quarter that were found for them by the Housing for All (Bydlení pro všechny) initiative.
The families are now moving into five one-bedroom or studio apartments. The one-bedrooms will cost CZK 6 300 [EUR 245] per month plus utilities and the studios will cost CZK 5 800 [EUR 225]. Initiative activists say it is important that the Romani tenants will no longer be living in a socially excluded locality.
"This completely corresponds to my needs, it’s better for us than an apartment in a residential hotel or living on the street. We thank everyone very much for their help," Andrea Jaslová, a mother of two who is expecting a third child in April, told news server Romea.cz.
Four people will be living in that apartment, two adults and two children, which will be three children come April. Why is it better than the residential hotel? "We pay less, it’s cleaner, I have my own bathroom and kitchen, and there is more privacy. The children are closer to their school," Jaslová told news server Romea.cz.
The residential hotel in Krásné Březno into which the families were originally moved was very expensive. "We are paying monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit of CZK 11 500 for two adults and four children. Of that, only about CZK 7 000 is covered by our housing benefit. Of the few crowns in income I receive a month, I have to pay CZK 4 300 just to make up the rest of the rent," residential hotel occupant Iveta told us previously.
Petr Mirga, who was living with his adult daughter and her children at the residential hotel, is also satisfied with the move. He and his grandson will be moving into a studio.
"I have my privacy here. For the first time, I have my own housing," Mirga told news server Romea.cz.
Activists from the Housing for All initiative (Bydlení pro všechny) are continuing to assist the Romani tenants with administrative matters. They are accompanying them to sign the leases and fund-raising for their deposits and for furniture. The apartments are furnished with kitchen units only.
According to information obtained by news server Romea.cz, the social welfare department of the Ústí nad Labem town hall did offer other apartments to the tenants this morning, but the families had already made their own arrangements by then. Activist Ivanka Mariposa Čonková reports that the apartments found for the families were not on the lists published previously by the NGO People in Need (Člověk v tísni) as having been offered to them.
The manager of the apartment building on Klíšská street, Vladimír Cichý, said the families were accepted into the building without any problem. "Most of the families already living here are Romani. I told them they will have to obey the rules like everyone else," news server Deník.cz quoted Cichý as saying.
Families had to be evacuated from Předlice
The Romani families had to be evacuated from a building on Beneše Lounského street in the Předlice quarter that is in a poor state of repair. The owner bought the property from the town for an advantageous price and never intended to perform the necessary repairs. He then told his former tenants he could not provide them substitute accommodation, even though he was required by law to do so.
The families were then evacuated from the building under strange circumstances, first into the gym at a local primary school, and then into the overpriced residential hotel in the Krásné Březno quarter, where they did not want to go. "They threatened us that if we didn’t move in there they would take our children into state care," a mother evacuated from Předlice told news server Romea.cz previously.
