Public funds should be spent on housing rather than Olympics, says LMP

Budapest, August 22 (MTI) – The government should finance social housing rather than the Olympic Games in Budapest, a local representative of LMP said on Saturday, and argued that high property prices and rents have now created a housing crisis in the capital.

Antal Csardi told a press conference that a “fraction” of the money to be spent on the 2024 Olympics would be enough to launch a rental housing programme for hundreds of thousands of people.

Budapest has a high ratio of “housing poverty” as masses of residents live in substandard accommodation. “We are planning to host the Olympics with a bare ass,” Csardi insisted.

The parliamentary group of ruling Fidesz said in response that “the idea of building rental units in large numbers is definitely dangerous and untimely amid the extraordinary influx of immigrants to Europe”.

Rental housing programmes have nothing to do with Hungary’s Olympic bid, the party said in a statement, and insisted that an opportunity to host the Games in 2024 is an extremely high honour to a country.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters