Chapter 02 current Housing · 2026

Short-term rentals and their negative impacts.

This is the current topic of the Prague 1 citizens' assembly. The participants chose it themselves — residents of the city district selected by lot — at a working weekend in April 2026. Together they gathered materials, heard experts and formulated their recommendations. The goal is to open the topic up for public discussion and to support its resolution.

Topic meetings
12 and 20 May 2026
Venue
Kino 64 U Hradeb
Participants
54 (across 12 and 20 May)
Output
Resolution + petition + prevention
Action
current

Support a debate in Parliament.

We have launched a petition to regulate short-term rentals. The goal is 12,000 signatures, so that the topic can be debated by the petitions committee of the Chamber of Deputies on 9 June 2026. You can sign it wherever you live.

The participants themselves asked for the petition (20 May 2026).

The signing link will be added soon

01 Why this topic

Prague 1 is an extreme, not the norm.

Of the 344 suggestions that emerged from a participatory process involving over 2 500 people, a questionnaire survey identified short-term rentals as the number one problem for Prague 1. The participants of the assembly chose the topic themselves — with no predefined brief — at a working weekend in April 2026.

Prague 1 today is not a place where people primarily live: ~25 % of the housing stock in the centre is used for tourism and the demographic curve has been falling for thirty years. The costs (noise, wear and tear, loss of housing, the breakdown of community) are borne by all residents, while the profits flow to a narrow group of investors. In the minutes the participants named it as "the socialisation of costs and the privatisation of profits".

The participants work with data from Inside Airbnb, with the IPR Prague study (Mgr. Sýkora, 2024) and with a sociological survey by NMS Research. These materials underpin the data panel on the right as well as every recommendation that emerges from the process.

How the topic was selected

"Airbnb devastated housing in Prague 1. After the privatisation of flats from 1998 onwards, investors began buying up flats and converting them into tourist accommodation. The centre is emptying out, long-time residents are leaving — and returning flats to normal living is now almost impossible."

— councillor and representative of the Prague 1 city district (from MC TRITON interviews for the Sustainable Development Strategy, 2021)

Enforce, or pass a new law?

Between the meetings on 12 and 20 May the participants had time to study the materials — so that they came to the debate prepared and knew far more than at the start. At both meetings, two different views on the solution then emerged:

View 1

Enforce the existing rules

The laws already apply, they just aren't enforced. Joint complaints to the building, trade-licensing and finance departments, coordinated civic pressure. Petr Městecký demonstrated this on his own building: of ~10 Airbnb rooms there are now zero.

View 2

Create new legislation

A nationwide law on short-term rentals with clear rules and sanctions. A bill that the previous Chamber failed to pass in time — its author Jan Eisenreich was one of the guests.

The two paths are not mutually exclusive — the assembly's petition therefore aims at both enforcement and new legislation at once.

01b For a sense of scale

Here are those Airbnb flats in Prague 1.

02 How the process unfolded

Two meetings. One output.

Day 1 · 12 May 2026 · 17:00–21:00 · Kino 64 U Hradeb completed

Introduction and hearing the experts

The first working meeting: an introduction to the topic, expert inputs and three parallel discussion tables by neighbourhood (Old Town · New Town · Lesser Town).

Detailed programme 5 blocks · 17:00—21:00
  1. IntroStrategic context — Jan Rachunek: the vision for Prague 1 to 2035 per the Sustainable Development Strategy of the Prague 1 city district.
  2. DataData framework — IPR Prague (Mgr. Sýkora, 2024) + AirDNA 2026.
  3. ProposalRegulation proposal — Jan Eisenreich: 4 European models (Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin) and the obstacles in the Czech Republic.
  4. TablesDiscussion at three tables — focus group, local perspectives, parallel focus groups.
  5. ClosingA joint conclusion and gathering of the key points into the minutes.
"It started on a fairly good principle — when you go away, let someone stay in your flat while they're on holiday. Over time, though, it grew into a business. More than three quarters of the listings are from professionals with several flats."
— from the talk by Jan Eisenreich, 12 May 2026
  • expert inputs · 3
  • table discussion
  • focus groups · 3
  • minutes
  • materials
  • recording
Day 2 · 20 May 2026 · 18:30–20:30 · Kino 64 U Hradeb completed

From naming the problem to the petition text

The second meeting no longer re-named the problem — the participants arrived with a sense of what is at stake. After three expert inputs and a discussion they formulated a joint resolution and a working text of the petition, which they had asked for themselves.

Detailed programme 6 blocks · 18:30—20:30
  1. IntroFraming the evening — building on the previous meeting, the goal: from naming the problem to a resolution and the petition text.
  2. InputsThree expert inputs — Petr Městecký (enforcing the existing rules · "we don't need a new law, we need to enforce the existing one"), Bronislava Sitár Baboráková (the urban and political dimension · party destinations, e-boxes, the need for proper fines) and Jan Eisenreich (the legal framework).
  3. DiscussionOpen discussion — "regulation = legalisation?", the capacity of building authorities, enforcement vs. new legislation.
  4. TablesGroup work at the tables — two branches of the text emerged: an appeal structured by the competences of institutions (district / city hall / ministry / Parliament) and an appeal aimed at Parliament and legislation.
  5. Resolution"Return flats to housing." — the basic resolution approved by all, with no votes against, in two rounds.
  6. PetitionReading of the working versions of the petition — the participants asked for the petition themselves; the evening ran considerably over the planned time.
  • 3 expert inputs
  • enforcement vs. new legislation
  • resolution "Return flats to housing"
  • petition — 2 branches
  • handover to the City of Prague

Meeting result

The assembly's resolution.

What the participants agreed on 20 May, they wrote down into a single document — an appeal structured by who can move what. It is not yet the petition text for signing; that will be shorter. This is the output of the meeting, which will undergo a legal review.

03 Materials

What the participants had available.

Available now Inside Airbnb — Prague Open data on the distribution and density of short-term listings that the participants worked with. The same source feeds the map higher up this page.
Coming soon

Minutes, studies and recordings will be published once processed and legally reviewed. The minutes from the meeting on 20 May will follow as soon as they have been processed.

  • Regulation of short-term rentals — overview PDF
  • Expert inputs 12 May 2026 PPTX
  • Barcelona — case study PDF
  • Recording of the first meeting YouTube
  • Report from the working weekend Video
  • Public draw at the Václav Havel Library Video
  • Minutes from the meeting on 12 May 2026 PDF
  • Table A — Old Town Minutes
  • Table B — New Town Minutes

04 Next steps

What comes next after the meetings.

After the last meeting comes the publication of the final recommendations, their handover to the commissioning bodies and a public discussion of the proposed regulation.

  1. 20 May 2026

    Second meeting + vote

    Formulation of the final recommendations in groups, a vote on the resolutions.

  2. 3 June 2026

    Publication of the minutes and recommendations

    Publication of the chapter's formal output on the website and handover to the commissioning bodies.

  3. 9 June 2026

    Debate by the petitions committee of the Chamber of Deputies

    If 12 000 signatures are reached, the topic will be debated by the petitions committee of the Chamber.

  4. 20 Aug 2026

    Response from the City of Prague and the district

    The commissioning bodies have a duty to respond publicly within three months.

WHAT CAME BEFORE

How this topic was chosen.

Short-term rentals were not handed down from above. The randomly selected residents of Prague 1 chose the topic themselves at the working weekend in April 2026 — across the four pillars of the Sustainable Development Strategy. Here is the whole path back.

Back to chapter 01 · Topic selection Introduction & first meeting