Section for Housing Policy and Urban Development
It is responsible for defining and implementing housing policies, particularly through the drafting of national housing policy concepts, the design and implementation of housing development support facilities and the preparation of available tools and the processing of available statistical data on housing in the Slovak Republic. The section directly develops legislation in three support areas, namely assistance provided under the Housing Development Programme, loans provided by the State Housing Development Fund and contributions toward the insulation of detached houses. It provides a nationwide premium for building savings accounts and public contributions toward mortgage loans, while addressing issues surrounding flats in restituted homes. It also establishes conditions for how housing estate superintendents should act. The part of the section handling housing policy also serves as the contact point for the European Territorial Cooperation Programme URBACT in the Slovak Republic, where it has the standing of a first-instance national authority. URBACT helps EU cities prepare development plans and exchange knowledge. It represents the Slovak Republic in international groupings and organisations tackling housing policy and urban development issues, such as the Committee on Housing and Land Management in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the Partnership on Housing of the Urban Agenda for the EU, the Directors General Meeting on Urban Matters at the EU Council and the Housing Focal Points. At the national level, it develops and implements urban development policy by drafting and updating the Slovak Republic’s urban development master plan and is tasked with carrying out the results of it. These are principles and measures for sustainable, productive and resilient cities to systematically strengthen their role in the overall development of the Slovak Republic.