Housing

Steps

1. Look for a home on the listing portals (Sreality, Bezrealitky, Reality iDNES) or through an agency, which generally charges a commission. In Prague, a studio often costs CZK 18,000 to CZK 22,000 per month (EURES, page updated on 30/04/2026).
2. Check the owner free of charge in the online land registry (nahlížení do katastru, nahlizenidokn.cuzk.cz) before signing.
3. Sign a written lease (nájemní smlouva): rent, term (fixed or open-ended), advance payments for utilities (zálohy na služby: water, heating, common areas), often not included in the advertised rent.
4. Pay the deposit, at most equal to three months' rent.
5. To leave:
   • open-ended lease: you can give notice at any time, without reason, with three months' notice;
   • fixed-term lease: only if your situation has changed significantly (transfer, birth, relative to care for, purchase of a home…), with three months' notice. The notice period starts on the first day of the month following receipt of your letter. Notice is given in writing and in a provable way (registered letter, datová schránka, or email with a qualified electronic signature).
6. To buy: check the land registry extract (charges, mortgages, co-owners), sign the sale contract, then file the registration application (návrh na vklad) with the land registry: you become the owner on registration.
7. After the purchase, file the property tax return before 31 January of the following year (sheet CZ-IMPOTS-TOUS-003).

Documents

• ID document; for a lease, often a proof of income or employment.
• For a purchase: signed sale contract, land registry extract, land registry registration application.

Costs and timelines

• Deposit: legal cap of three months' rent (EURES).
• Real estate acquisition tax: abolished by Act 386/2020, in force since 26 September 2020: no tax to pay on a purchase. The law also extinguished the tax debt arising before that date where the filing deadline expired from 31 March 2020.
• Land registry registration: CZK 2,000 per application, paid to the land registry office; 20% reduction (CZK 1,000 at most) if you file the application on the land registry portal, logged in with the Identita občana, or via datová schránka with the portal's electronic form. The fees are not refunded if the application is rejected.
• Resale: capital gain exempt if you lived in the home for at least 2 years just before the sale, or if you kept it for more than 10 years (5 years for a property acquired before 01/01/2021), or within a shorter period if you reinvest the proceeds in your own home (gov.cz portal; Act 586/1992, art. 4).
• Lawyer, notary or agency fees: free, to be compared.

Common pitfalls

• Sending money before the viewing: frequent scam, nothing without a viewing and a signed lease (EURES).
• Forgetting the utilities: ask for the total of the advance payments for utilities; they are added to the rent.
• Letting the 2-month deadline pass: if the landlord gives you notice without a valid reason and you do not go to court within 2 months, the notice becomes valid.
• Not paying 3 months of rent and utilities (even non-consecutive): the landlord can terminate without notice, after a written warning; you must leave within the month.
• Notice for personal use: it only applies to an open-ended lease; if the home is not occupied as announced within the month following your departure, the landlord must offer it to you again or compensate you.

What changes by country of origin

• Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Swiss people: renting and buying on the same terms as a Czech (free movement of capital). The residence registration certificate, optional, makes dealings with banks and administrations easier (EURES).
• British people and other non-Europeans: the foreign exchange act (219/1995), which used to limit the purchase of real estate by foreigners, no longer contained any rule on real estate in its last version (2013) and was repealed in October 2016; no restriction specific to foreigners was found in the texts in force. Still have your purchase checked by the notary or lawyer drafting the contract.