Local services
Unique in Hungary, the City of Debrecen is launching a new rental housing programme called the Főnix Housing Programme, which is specifically designed to support young people in Debrecen. The details were announced at a press conference on the 14th of March 2024 by Mayor László Papp, Hajdú-Bihar County President of VOSZ (National Association of Entrepreneurs) Károly Balogh, and Managing Director of Schaeffler Debrecen Ltd. Péter Szabó.
Mayor of Debrecen László Papp said that thanks to the extremely intensive economic development of the past ten years, several billion euros of working capital has been brought to the city and thousands of jobs have been created in Debrecen. And this performance has been recognised internationally.
He reminded that since the regime change, not so many people have worked in Debrecen as now. With the increase in the number of large companies operating in Debrecen, the city’s revenues also has increased visibly, as the city’s tax revenues have tripled in ten years. Job-creating investments also have a number of positive benefits for the public, as more and more resources can be re-invested in measures that make life easier for the citizens of Debrecen.
The Mayor stressed that economic growth is a great opportunity, but it also brings many challenges. One of the most serious of these is the developments in the housing market in Debrecen.The rise in property prices and rents is not a phenomenon unique to Debrecen, as there are several national and international influences affecting the real estate market. Over the past five years, a number of difficulties, such as the Coronavirus pandemic, the war, the energy price explosion and the high bank interest rate environment, have been far from conducive to investment in housing and property development. It can be seen, however, that these natural processes (and their effects) have been complemented in Debrecen by the consequences of local economic growth, with house prices and rents rising significantly.
As László Papp said the Debrecen city administration is sensitive to the processes taking place in the city, so they try to deal with all challenges that affect the city as a whole in a programmatic way.
Now, seeing that the macroeconomic environment is beginning to settle down, real wages are rising and interest rates are falling, the time has come for the municipality to intervene in the housing market.
László Papp announced the launch of a new rental housing programme for Hungarian citizens, called the Főnix Housing Programme, specifically for young people under 35 living in Debrecen or working in the city.
This is a unique rental housing programme in Hungary, because we want to involve and interest real estate developers, as well as businesses and employers in Debrecen, on the initiative of the municipality. The goal of the program is to ensure that young workers from Debrecen stay in the city instead of emigrating to the agglomeration, so we provide them with affordable, low-maintenance, high-energy-efficiency properties so that they can plan their lives and careers in Debrecen.
The Mayor said that the Municipality’s aim is to provide young workers and their families with 200 apartments with predefined technical specifications. To this end, the project coordinator, Cívis Ház PLC would already this year assess the potential housing stock in the framework of a tender. Property developers can apply for new apartments of up to 50 square metres. They will also be equipped with kitchen furniture and bathroom sanitary ware.
On the employer side, we can provide housing for young people working in Debrecen through a cooperation agreement.
Regarding the details, László Papp emphasised that the Municipality also undertakes to provide a third of the market rent for the young people participating in the program. The remaining part of the rental fee appears on the side of the employer and the tenant, also in the ratio of one-third to one-third. The rental period would be for a period of five years, after which the young people would have the opportunity to stand on their own feet and get their own property.
Those who can apply:
– have a registered permanent residence in Debrecen by signing in to the rental property
– and have a permanent employment contract with a company in Debrecen,
– are under 35 years of age,
– are Hungarian citizens,
– and do not own a habitable apartment in Debrecen.
Following preparations this year, the programme will be launched in 2025.
Managing Director of Schaeffler Debrecen Ltd. Péter Szabó encouraged companies to join the program, as it is possible to offer young people a complete life path, because in addition to the excellent training of those participating in the vocational training, high-level university studies can be completed, so not only young employees, but the companies will also be winners of the program. He emphasised that this is another initiative that had to start in Debrecen, given the development of recent years. He added that he had not seen any other initiative in the country where the local government had launched such a support.
Hajdú-Bihar County President of VOSZ, Károly Balogh said that VOSZ would join the program as an umbrella organisation, prioritising the support of the SME sector, so that the organisation would register dozens of apartment leases for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Source: debrecen.hu
