Czech mayor castigates residential hotel evictees over their impending homelessness
A residential hotel is closing down on Americká Street in Kladno, Czech Republic and reportedly two-thirds of its tenants have yet to find substitute accommodation. About 22 people do not know where they will move after the building shuts its doors.
The municipality is calling on the evictees to begin addressing their situations in collaboration with social workers. Eva Havelková of the mayor’s office informed the Czech News Agency of the situation on 23 September.
The intention to close the facility’s operations, which predominantly serve families in precarious social situations, was announced by the owner at the end of August. The operator then gave notice to the tenants with a deadline for them to move out by the end of September.
According to the accommodation records, there were 72 people reported as residing in the building at the close of August, 29 adults and 43 children. The families are of various sizes and several senior citizens are also accommodated there.
“We are horrified by the cavalier approach of these parents, who know the residential hotel will close in a couple of days and who are not addressing their own situations. Apparently they expect the town will relieve them of that responsibility and give them housing at the last minute,” Mayor Dan Jiránek (Civic Democratic Party – ODS) castigated the evictees.
According to the mayor, the town will not be providing substitute accommodation to the evictees. “The town has been declaring and emphasizing this entire time that after the two big private residential hotels in the Rozdělov quarter and the nearby Libušín quarter close, the town actually does not have any other housing capacity available. The town is under no obligation to find these people housing. The municipally-owned apartments and the shelter apartments are full,” he warned.
The municipality claims that once it received the information that the residential hotel was closing, its social workers began to work directly with the tenants and are in contact with the administrator of the facility. For the time being, five evictees have requested aid from the local social welfare department.
The local Romani Coordinator reportedly also addressed the situation of all the tenants directly with them at the facility. As of last Friday, seven families and three individuals still had no substitute accommodation arranged.
“We have repeatedly offered them our advisory aid, and despite the fact that the families are actually very large, we have found accommodation options elsewhere for them and offered them the information. It’s up to them to accept it. The deadline by which they must vacate the premises is approaching,” claims the head of the local social welfare department, Petra Černá.
There are about 20 residential hotels in Kladno whose tenants receive welfare. In addition, according to the town leadership, there is a trend to accommodate people in social precarity in single-family homes.
In 75 to 80 % of such cases, those who are receiving housing allowance assistance are not residential hotel tenants. For example, in the Dubí quarter there are cases of single-family homes being overcrowded with tenants in social precarity.
