BUSINESS

Heimstaden

Introduces Plentiful

Improvements

and the Concept

of Friendly Homes

Residomo, the largest private provider of rental housing

in the Czech Republic, became Heimstaden Czech

on May 27, 2020. The name changed when the new

owner, Swedish Heimstaden Bostad AB, purchased

the company. Heimstaden owns housing portfolios

in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands,

Germany, and now in the Czech Republic, too. It thus

became the fourth-largest rental-housing provider

in Europe. What can its current and prospective

tenants look forward to and expect from the change?

Let us check out the responses of Jan Rafaj, CEO

at Heimstaden Czech.

Mr Rafaj, with Heimstaden, a renowned company is

entering the Czech rental-housing market. What is it

bringing?

Heimstaden has operated in Europe since 1998, and

therefore has years of experience in the ownership and

administration of tens of thousands of flats. The principal

vision of Heimstaden is the offer of long-term, stable, and

affordable rental housing with the concept of Friendly

Homes. The emphasis is on social and environmental

sustainability, and a high standard of living for both tenants

and employees, who are looked after and respected. The

company invests in the buildings of their tenants but also

in the neighbourhood. I believe that the high standards of

Heimstaden in services and corporate values will inspire

other rental-housing providers in the Czech Republic, to

the benefit of all tenants.

The crucial values of Heimstaden include Care – Dare

– Share. What do these words represent?

Heimstaden will continue the high level of management

and maintenance of our current flats and has a vision

for the further development of our portfolio and future

investments. The quality of housing and our services has

increased in recent years, and with the new owner we

can expect even better standards. For example, on June

1, 2020, we started a free new helpline, a client service

online portal, and an app, Heimstaden “Můj domov“

(My Home), which will speed up the response to inquiries

of tenants without requiring them to have to go to the

client centre in person.

Within our services to seniors, we want to develop the

successful project “Haló, nejste sami!” (“Hello, You Are

Not Alone!”), whose operation during the COVID-19

crisis was supported by psychology students from the

University of Ostrava. Their assistance on the phone

helped tenants over the age of seventy overcome

loneliness and fear. We also intend to enhance our

Senior Community Centres, and start construction of

homes designed for seniors.

An important step towards better environmental

protection will arrive in the form of increased investment

in block insulation and speeding up the process. Within

five to seven years, we plan to stop using coal-furnace

heating and significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Our

tenants will be provided attractive and comfortable

homes which will also be environmentally-friendly.

Heimstaden is a strong and trustworthy partner. Which

of the activities your company plans to introduce will be

the most remarkable and most obvious on the Czech

rental-housing market?

In my opinion, we put a much greater emphasis on

close contacts and communication with tenants, who

are always the primary focus of our interest. We want to

permanently increase the quality of our facilities and their

locations, and so improve our tenants’ quality of life. And

we are also struggling to make Heimstaden be perceived

as a provider of truly Friendly Homes.

Text a foto:

Heimstaden

Czech s.r.o.

Thank you for the interview.

www.heimstaden.cz

POSITIV 2/2020 ǀ 21