The developer Finep plans to stick to its strategy of building cooperative flats in Prague. Three new projects it’s developing in Barrandov, Hostivař and Prosek will include this type of ownership arrangement. Currently, Finep has 209 cooperative units on offer and its CEO Tomáš Pardubický claims there is increased demand for the product. “The bank criteria for giving mortgages are the key, as they are limited by age. Also a lot of Czechs had good experiences with cooperative housing.” The company’s pilot project, Bytové družstvo Habr, is doing well, having sold 70 percent of 62 units in six months. The cooperative model enables buyers to put down just 25 percent of the total price and pay off the remaining 75 percent through rent.
