The Prague Archbishopric, through its development service XPlace, will invest roughly CZK 3 billion in rental housing by 2025. In total, about 280 flats and seven family houses will be built in the Lihovar Smíchov, Krč na Habrovce, Stodůlky and Milovice projects in the Nymburk region. Depending on the quality of the apartment, the monthly rent will be between CZK 15,000 and CZK 55,000, and the leases at commercial prices are open to all interested parties, announced today Linda Dolečková, economist of the Prague Archbishopric. The archbishopric is also preparing the acquisition of another 135 flats for almost CZK 1 billion. Representatives of the archbishopric did not give details about this.
“In addition to small flats, which are the most efficient in terms of profitability, XPlace also has larger flats to offer, for example, to young families with children. Although the yield per square metre is not as good, as the profitability decreases as the area increases, the trust of clients and the establishment of a good relationship increases,” Dolečková said.
According to her, the rental yield will be between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent once more apartments are completed. However, the archbishopric is not yet achieving these results due to higher upfront costs and the not insignificant initial costs of starting up the XPlace platform itself. The Catholic Church is currently looking for ways to secure its own funding. In 2043, the state’s payment of compensation for undelivered property in the 2013 Comprehensive Property Settlement will end. CZK 75 billion worth of property has been returned to the Catholic Church. Therefore, it is not about flats intended for church employees, priests or social housing.
“The profits from the leases are intended entirely to support the main activities of the Archbishopric of Prague, i.e. the ministry, support for church education or at least basic maintenance of churches, and also for the very important support of parishes. Social housing is a matter for our charities,” added the Archbishopric’s economist.
XPlace is working with developers Finep, Trigema and VPP Group to build the flats. Some of the flats were given to the archbishopric in exchange for land it could not use itself. In this way, it acquired 100 flats in Zličín and Střížkov from Central Group, the largest Czech residential developer. According to Dolečková, the archbishopric is currently looking for other opportunities for new projects within commuting distance of Prague, specifically in the Central Bohemian Region around the towns of Kolín, Beroun and Kladno.
The Archbishopric also operates 103 apartments in Jaselská Street in Dejvice. Former President Miloš Zeman has set up an office in one of them. The apartment was rented by the Friends of Miloš Zeman association, which helped him with his return to politics after 2008 and later with his presidential campaign. The Prague 6 municipal authority has inspected the office and the apartment has been approved for habitation. However, according to the office, no offence has been committed and as long as some of the visits to the flat are for work, no new office approval is needed.
XPlace is a platform owned by the Archbishopric of Prague providing rental housing. The service organisation has eight employees at the moment. The service will not have its accounts closed until next year; at the moment it does not meet the legal requirements for its mandatory compilation. The Archbishopric of Prague made a profit of CZK 213 million for 2022. XPlace makes up approximately ten percent of its asset portfolio. The largest part, approximately 40 per cent, consisted of earnings from forests.
Source: Prague Archbishopric and CTK
