AFI Europe has agreed to buy more than 800 flats from the residential developer FINEP in two separate projects. The first deal involves nearly 300 rental flats in two buildings in FINEP’s Nova Electra project in Hloubětin – Prague 9. The second transaction is for FINEP’s project (Obytný soubor v Korytech) in Strašnice – Prague 10, where it’s building more than 500 units. “Both transactions strengthen our strategy of focusing on providing affordable, quality and sustainable rental housing in attractive locations in Prague,” said Klein.
AFI Europe has been active in the rental sector since 2017, beginning with a pilot project AFI Home Třeběšin and two subsequent projects (AFI Home Karlin and AFI Home Kolbenova). With those now nearly full, Klein’s been working to renew the pipeline, leading to these recent deals with FINEP. “In the coming three years, we’re planning to triple the number of our rental flats,” says Klein, referring to his goal to expand AFI’s portfolio beyond 6,000 rental flats in the Czech, Polish, Romanian and Serbian markets.
FINEP director Tomaš Pardubický renewed his calls to let the free market solve growing social tensions over high housing prices. “Through the development of rental and cooperative residential projects, we’re contributing far more to affordability than any sort of new regulations, which, as we see abroad, leads to the exact opposite,” he said. “The way to increase the affordability of housing is by increasing the number of flats available on the market.” Pardubický cited AFI Europe’s high level of moral credit as a key reason for partnering with them.
