By Nigina Mirbabaeva
Highlights- EBRD lends 110 million to residential-for-rent property owner and operator Heimstaden Bostad
- Investment to finance large scale energy efficiency renovation of a portfolio of residential buildings
- Energy efficiency measures in buildings key to support decarbonisation and move to net-zero
The EBRD is supporting residential energy efficiency in the Czech Republic by providing a 110 million loan to Heimstaden Bostad, the owner of the largest portfolio of private residential rental units in the Czech Republic.
The EBRD is investing alongside a consortium of commercial banks, to finance large scale and systemic green renovation of Heimstaden Bostad's portfolio residential buildings, which house circa 42,500 residential units in the country.
The EBRD's green and sustainability-linked loan will enable Heimstaden to implement building improvements such as thermal insulation and transition to low-carbon energy supply such as renewable energy and heat pumps. The green investments will support the company in achieving its ambitious climate targets of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of its overall portfolio by 42 per cent by 2030, from 2020 as the base year. With the majority of the emissions reduction expected to come from the Czech portfolio, the EBRD's investment will provide the necessary financing to help meet this objective.
Charlotte Ruhe, EBRD Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe, said: "Buildings are responsible for more than a third of global carbon emissions, so supporting their energy efficiency and green transformation is crucial to reach global decarbonisation goals. This project demonstrates what can be done when private sector firms collaborate to achieve change. It serves as an excellent example to other players in the market, which we hope will advance further green investments in the real estate sector."
Heimstaden Bostad's CEO Helge Krogsbøl commented: "We are pleased to announce our cooperation with EBRD, Unicredit, and the Czech banking consortium. These funds strengthen our balance sheet and will enhance the sustainability of our Czech portfolio. Heimstaden Bostad was the first major European residential real estate company to attain Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validation for our Climate Roadmap, with our Czech portfolio offering the highest potential for reducing CO2 emissions."
Heimstaden was one of the first pan-European residential real estate companies and the first real estate company in the Czech Republic to commit to the globally recognised Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a third-party recognition that validates climate targets to ensure that they meet the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
As part of the Bank's investment, Heimstaden is going further and will also join the World Green Building Council's initiative on the development of a national whole-life decarbonisation roadmap for the Czech Republic. The roadmap will identify specific actions, measures and policy interventions to address decarbonisation opportunities across the building value chain to reduce buildings' whole lifecycle carbon footprint.
Heimstaden is Europe's second largest residential for rent landlord, currently present in nine countries, including the Czech Republic and Poland. Heimstaden operates in the professional private rental sector with a total portfolio of more than 160,000 residential units including circa 42,500 residential units located mainly in the Moravia-Silesia region in the Czech Republic.
The EBRD resumed investing in the Czech Republic in 2021, following the authorities' request to help with the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The EBRD invested 111 million in the Czech Republic in 2022, more than 80 per cent of which went into green projects. The Bank's engagement in the country focuses on the private sector.
