Government to Tackle the Wave of New Residents “Sweeping Away” the Image of Settlements

The government aims to help municipalities that want to keep the number of people moving in under control with so-called “identity protection measures,” said the head of the Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Association of Municipalities, Tibor Navracsics explained that there are settlements that feel they are in difficulty, as they feel that the large numbers of people moving in are “sweeping away” the village or town image and the traditional structure of the settlement.

In his presentation, the minister said that work is under way to prepare the so-called identity protection measures launched by his ministry to be enacted into law. He stressed that this is not about settlements “erasing themselves from the map of Hungary, or erasing themselves from the history of Hungary and closing themselves off.”

It is about the fact that a community may decide to impose conditions for moving into and acquiring property in its territory because it no longer has enough property and cannot cope with the municipal infrastructure, or because it simply wants to preserve its traditions.

He added that if a municipality does not feel that this is a problem, it does not have to make a decision on this matter in the future, pointing out that 2,000 out of some 3,100 municipalities are losing population. The problem for these municipalities is not that too many people are moving in, the question for them is how to attract people back or resettle young people, to give back the “vitality” to the settlement. He noted that the remaining 1,100 municipalities are growing in population. Even among these, there are approximately 600-700 settlements that welcome population growth and do not see it as a problem.

However, there are also 300-400 settlements – the Budapest metropolitan area, the areas around Lake Velence and Lake Balaton, and around some large cities – where they feel it is a threat.

The minister said they could restrict the sale of property to non-local residents or extend the right of first refusal. Another means is to impose conditions on the purchase of property and on the registration of residence, or to impose local tax obligations.

Although the politician did not mention it, the complexity of the problem mentioned includes the large number of foreigners buying property in some municipalities without being checked.

An article in Demokrata also points to this phenomenon, using the example of the municipality of Bodrogkeresztúr, that has fallen victim to uncontrolled foreign property purchases. The municipality has faced serious long-term consequences: not only do uncontrolled property purchases increase local market prices tenfold, but there is also a risk that unauthorized accommodation infrastructure will be built in a nature reserve. It also involves the forced displacement of local people, the abandonment of their traditions and cultural heritage and the consequent accelerated decline of the countryside, the article points out.

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