Doubrava did not approve the offer from Heimstaden to purchase the colony of Finnish houses

Doubrava - The municipal council of Doubrava in the Karviná region today did not approve the offer from Heimstaden for the purchase of a colony of Finnish houses. The reason was, among other things, the high price. Jiřina Ferenčíková (Our Doubrava), the mayor of Doubrava, said this to ČTK after the council meeting.

The mayor stated that the offer pertained to 66 Finnish houses, each containing two residential units. Heimstaden wanted 113 million crowns for them. However, the municipality has an annual budget of approximately 30 million crowns.

"The council decided that we acknowledge Heimstaden's offer. However, we do not approve it as it was presented. We will negotiate with Heimstaden regarding their further intentions," said Ferenčíková. According to her, it is not just about the price the company wanted, but the houses would require further investments. The mayor mentioned that only about ten of the houses are in really good condition.

"Our company offered the municipality of Doubrava the opportunity to buy the colony of Finnish houses, including land, at a very favorable price. At this moment, we are waiting for a response from the municipal leadership," said Kateřina Piechowicz, spokeswoman for Heimstaden, to ČTK. She added that there are no changes to the leases of the residents in the houses.

Heimstaden is the largest private provider of rental housing in the Czech Republic. It owns nearly 43,000 apartments, mainly in the Moravian-Silesian Region, primarily former mining apartments from OKD. The Scandinavian multinational group Heimstaden, which is one of the largest providers of rental housing in Europe, has owned them since 2020.

The former RPG Byty company acquired the former mining apartments from its parent company co-owned by entrepreneur Zdeněk Bakala, which bought them in 2004 together with OKD. In the privatization agreement, it committed to offering the apartments to tenants first under non-market conditions. However, the company did not sell the apartments, and in 2015 the entire company changed ownership. Investment funds became the owners, from which Heimstaden acquired the company after five years.