Debrecen4U September 12, 2025

The Municipality of Debrecen supports housing with rental apartments

The details were announced at a press conference by László Papp, Mayor of Debrecen, and Edit Erdei, CEO of Cívis Ház Zrt., at the City Hall on September 11, 2025.

Debrecen has become the new economic center of Hungary and Central Europe in the past 10 years. This process has transformed the city’s real estate market and housing conditions, which has required an active, proactive attitude from both the local government and the city administration. Therefore, as in recent years, this year too, it is announcing a tender for municipal rental apartments.

Following the decision of the General Meeting’s Ownership and Economic Development Committee, a new tender will be published in October 2025, within the framework of which Cívis Ház Zrt. will announce 94 municipal rental apartments for rent: 78 apartments with social support and 16 apartments without social support. The tender notice is published on the website of Cívis Ház Zrt., Dehir.hu, Haon.hu, and in printed form in Hajdú-bihari Napló. Potential tenants must also obtain the documents required by the notice for the application. The evaluation of the applications is expected to take place in early 2026.

Cívis Ház Zrt. advertises the apartments for a period of 5 years, divided into 2+3 years. If there are no behavioral problems with the tenant in the first 2 years, the tenant fulfills his obligation to maintain the apartment, he has not had a rent debt of more than 60 days during the rental relationship, and he has no debt at the time of the expiration of the contract, the contract can be extended for another 3 years. When selecting apartments to be included in the tender, the guiding principle is that the offer should mainly consist of apartments located in prefabricated buildings, offering all modern conveniences and being easy to renovate and maintain.

Mayor László Papp announced at the press conference that in the past period, the city has extended all rental housing contracts that would have expired in the past year until December 31, 2025. This deadline is now being extended until December 31, 2026—so for all contracts expiring by the end of the year or contracts expiring on December 31, 2025, the rental period will be extended until December 31, 2026. This means stability for tenants. This deadline change is also partly related to the fact that the city will have to review its housing management decree and the regulatory legal background related to renting in 2026, and the deadline extension until December 31, 2026, is being made with this in mind.

Currently, approximately 3 percent of the population of Debrecen—namely 5,148 people—live in municipal rental housing.

Főnix Housing Program

In 2024, the Municipality of Debrecen launched the Főnix Housing Program to assist with housing for Hungarian citizens under the age of 35 who are employed in Debrecen. The essence of the program is that during its duration, the municipality finances one-third of the market rent for the rental housing quota consisting of 200 apartments, with the remaining one-third of the rental fees to be paid by the young people’s employers and the remaining third by the employees themselves.

In order to ensure the rental housing stock necessary for the implementation of the program, Cívis Ház Zrt.—as the organization coordinating the rental—announced a tender among real estate developers and homeowners in the city.

Prior to the closure of the first round of the Főnix Housing Program, the Hungarian Government announced the Otthon Start Program on September 1, 2025. Under this program, first-time homeowners can receive a preferential interest rate home loan, which offers favorable prospects especially for young people. As Mayor László Papp said, the target group of the Otthon Start Program is largely the same as the target group of the Főnix Housing Program, and based on market consultations and feedback, it can be clearly stated that those who may appear as potential tenants in the case of the Főnix Housing Program are more likely to consider purchasing a home under preferential conditions. Therefore, in order to examine the effects of the measure related to the Otthon Start Program, the Municipality of Debrecen is suspending the application procedure for the Főnix Housing Program, which it had previously initiated and which is partially affected by the Otthon Start Program.

The municipality is taking this initiative so that, after examining the national and local impact of the new government housing policy measure on the economic environment, including the sales and rental segments of the housing market, and taking into account the local situation assessment of all these factors, the city can decide on the existence and continuation of the Főnix Housing Program, promoting the improvement of housing conditions with economically feasible and competitive means, adapting to the needs of the population that are being rearranged by the change in the poles of demand and supply.

Mayor László Papp said that they will evaluate the situation, and, based on existing experience, they plan to reopen the application process at the beginning of next year, obviously with somewhat adjusted conditions and new deadlines.

Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu