President signs rent-deregulation law

President Vaclav Klaus has signed a law under which controlled rents will increase by an average 14.2 percent annually as of January 2007. Rents should be completely deregulated as of 2011. The bill was passed two weeks ago by the lower house. Around 750,000 flats are subject to rent control in the Czech Republic, which is about 1/5 of the country's housing market.