Residents of unique neighborhood in the Czech Republic still fighting their eviction

A letter sent to Bedřiška residents in May by Patrik Hujdus, Mayor of the Mariánské Hory a Hulváky (MHaH) Municipal Department, where the former mining colony is located, informs them that the general repairs to the houses that had been planned in collaboration with the previous leadership of the City of Ostrava is not realistic because it would involve the full reconstruction of the electrical supply, plumbing and sewerage, which would cost as much as CZK 200 million [EUR 8 million], which neither the city itself nor the municipal department has.

“That means the municipal department has been forced to look for another solution for the Bedřiška locality, which consists of partially suppressing residence there and vacating the houses which will remain occupied so they can be at least partially maintained,” Hujdus says in the letter.

The first group of residents should be evicted by the end of September 2025, the second by the end of May 2029. A third group should not be affected by the changes, as it consists of tenants with open-ended leases. The people from the first two groups were invited by the municipal department for a personal consultation and an addendum to their leases was given to them to sign – the condition for renewing their existing leases will be that they agree to leave by the deadlines established by the local authority.

The addendum says the tenants are no longer authorized to ask for repairs to their housing should flaws be discovered or if the house in which they are living is declared uninhabitable and must be vacated within 14 days, which the local authority in particular is authorized to declare. Despite the mayor’s written declaration that he might be prepared to offer the tenants who have upheld the terms of their leases either financial aid or substitute accommodation, all tenants are being informed by the addendum that they are not entitled to substitute accommodation.

“The addendum was delivered to 15 families, of which just two have signed it. The others refused to sign and sent a letter to the leadership of the local authority asking that standard leases be concluded with them at least for the time period that was mentioned in the public promise to them. The local authority is ‘playing possum’ and has not yet responded to the tenants’ request,” local community worker Eva Lehotská described the situation. However, six families’ leases expired at the end of June because they refused to sign the addendum, and three families are unable to draw on the state housing contribution as a result. “For them we set up a social fund into which the other residents of Bedřiška are contributing according to their abilities and it is intended to cover the rents for those families. We are also reaching out to sponsors, so I believe we will manage the situation,” Lehotská explains.

“Shut down this open-air museum”

The cost of the planned revitalization of the Bedřiška neighborhood, including the necessity of building new infrastructure, was calculated by an architectural firm in Prague called re:architekti studio, s.,r.,o., and none of those backing the plan deny that fact. Several analyses were produced of the effectiveness of the financial resources to be spent on the plan, and the budget options and plans for their financing were already also addressed by the previous leadership of the city. However, one of the biggest problems is the political will of the MHaH Municipal Department to revitalize the neighborhood according to the plan and to find ways to pay for it.

The situation in Bedřiška was completely covered during the June session of the local assembly, which was attended by members of the current and former local leadership and by Bedřiška residents. The position of the current leadership of the municipal department was best captured by a Facebook post from the First Vice-Mayor of MHaH, Jiří Pagáč.

“I actually do not want to sell. The locals don’t have the purchasing power, and I would never agree to go below a 100 % estimate of the buyers’ ability to pay. I will be glad if Bedřiška remains in our jurisdiction, if we are able to gradually build new houses there up to 21st-century standards and to continue to lease them for the usual market rates. Of course, that is incompatible with the current state of the utilities there and the composition of the inhabitants. We know how to build a gorgeous quarter there, the location is ideal for it, and that’s why it’s necessary to shut down this open-air museum,” he posted to the discussion on social media.

According to Eva Lehotská, who has long dedicated herself to community work at Bedřiška, and primarily thanks to her and the association called N.O.B.L. (NováOstravskáBedřiškaLidem – New Ostrava-Bedřiška for the People) what was originally an infamous ghetto has become almost a textbook model of a functioning community, and the possible resources for rebuilding the neighborhood could be negotiated with the relevant ministries. “We are holding those negotiations, but the municipal department refuses to apply for those resources and from the incautious statements made by some of its representatives, we conclude that they will only do so once they manage to evict the existing residents and demolish the houses, or at least most of them,” Lehotská says.

She also points out that an analysis commissioned by the municipal department of two houses in the locality has become its reference point – the analysis recommends their demolition because the cost of repairing them would be about CZK 1.5 million – CZK 2 million [EUR 60,000 – EUR 80,000] per residential unit measuring 56 m², which is not economical, and spending on such reconstruction would therefore not conform to good management principles.

“The analysis does not specify at all what that reconstruction would involve and how they arrived at that amount of money. What is especially remarkable is the conclusion about good management. Has the behavior of the local authority to date – failing to repair these houses and just addressing emergency situations – been in accordance with good management principles? We commissioned an evaluation of the same houses by a court-recognized expert in the field of wooden construction and his findings are diametrically opposed to the analysis of the local authority,” Lehotská says.

The houses, according to that court-recognized expert, are in good repair despite their age. The cost of repairing the minor flaws discovered, which have no impact on the longevity of the structures, so as to improve their insulation, replace their heating sources and their windows, was estimated by that expert at approximately CZK 650,000 – CZK 750,000 [EUR 26,000 – EUR 30,000] per unit and would also achieve energy savings. “It is possible to apply for subsidies for insulation, for replacing windows, and until 1 September it was also possible to apply for subsidies for changing the heating source, but the municipal department has not yet applied and apparently does not intend to apply. It simply wants to demolish it all,” describes Lehotská.

David and Goliath

“I get it that those people are unhappy about this, but the municipal department has to choose where to invest its money,” Hujdus told a session of the local assembly. He said the MHaH Municipal Department had collaborated on other plans under the previous leadership [which ended in April 2023 – editors] but that they had always warned that in their view it would be more economical to raze the housing in Bedřiška and build new housing than to repair the old houses. However, the previous leadership of the municipal department hadn’t wanted to contradict the city leadership on this issue. He also recalled that in the context of the revitalization discussion, it had also been stated that the Bedřiška residents would have to temporarily leave during the repairs and pay higher rents upon their return.

According to Lehotská, that would not be a problem for the people now in Bedřiška – they have been informed of that plan and she says they are willing to pay higher rents after the houses are repaired. A recommendation that the final decision on the plan to revitalize the area not include the termination of leases did not pass at the local assembly. “Those who abstained or who voted against that idea made it patently clear that they are not bothered in the least by our local authority taking illegal steps, that they identify with this approach and their opinions, and that the fates of these people, who are socially weak and vulnerable, are of no interest to them whatsoever. They have no appreciation for the work those people have done for the last 14 years. It’s awfully frustrating,” Lehotská says. The tenants with leases that are expiring, according to her, face the same fate as those who already had to leave Bedřiška during the last two eviction waves. “Most ended up in residential hotels or renting from private property owners who robbed them, they had to move elsewhere,” she says.

In July, the Czech President and First Lady invited citizens who are active in their regions and who aid with their development to the official residence at Lány. Czech President Petr Pavel and First Lady Eva Pavlová unexpectedly visited Bedřiška several days after that meeting. “These unbreakable people are united through self-help, determination, and hard community work. We will continue to follow the situation,” Pavlová said after the visit.

“The visit by the President and the First Lady gave our people hope and affirmed that we aren’t in this alone, the leading representative of the state is taking an interest in their fate. Hopefully that will aid matters, although the arrogance of the politicians in the current leadership of the city and especially in the leadership of the Mariánské Hory a Hulváky Municipal Department is unreal. However, as we know from the Biblical story of David and Goliath, even an underestimated, weak opponent can win if he has courage and faith. That’s what we have here,” Lehotská says.

First published in Czech in Romano voďi magazine.