Dostupnost bydlení ve Vídni a v Praze (2015-2025)

This bachelor’s thesis focuses on comparing the affordability of housing in Vienna and Prague in the period 2015–2025. Rental housing was deliberately chosen as a standalone topic, as its significance is growing in direct connection with the deteriorating affordability of homeownership. The theoretical part defines the economic framework of the housing market, addresses its specific characteristics, regulatory burden, the NIMBY phenomenon, and presents the Vienna social housing model including its weaknesses. The comparative approach enables a better understanding of how different institutional settings and housing policies affect the real financial situation of households. The main analytical tool used was the Rent-to-Income ratio, supplemented by an analysis of model households representing various income groups. The differences identified between the two cities are substantial — while in Vienna the share of rent to income has long remained in the range of 14 to 18 %, in Prague it reached values between 33 and 49 %. Low-income households and seniors in Prague spend more than 60 % of their income on housing. The thesis identifies insufficient housing construction, regulatory burden and the minimal role of the public sector in Prague’s housing market as the main causes of this situation, and on this basis formulates recommendations for housing policy.