Poland: EIB support for affordable housing - new flats delivered in Poznan

• The Housing association PTBS (Poznańskie Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego) has completed the building of new  housing units in the Strzeszyn neighbourhood, in Poznan. On Monday, the keys to new apartments on Moniki Cegłowskiej Street were handed over to their new tenants.
• Ultimately, about 1,100 new housing units will be built in the new housing estate

Construction on the new PTBS residential building on Moniki Cegłowskiej Street, in Poznan, began in August 2017. The building comprises 71 apartments. Most are two-room units, but those interested will also find studios or three-room apartments. It will also accommodate a kindergarten as well as retail and service space. At the beginning of February, a municipal nursery, Niezapominajka, was opened, providing care for 60 small children. Residents have also access to parking spaces in the underground garage and a playground. Three apartments have been adapted for the needs of the Na Tak Association, which will be homes for people with intellectual disabilities.

Half of the apartments will be inhabited by Poznań residents, who received an allocation under the PTBS recruitment process. In the remaining units, the city will implement the ‘Mieszkanie dla Seniora’ (Homes for Seniors) programme, where people from the housing lists maintained by the Office for Housing Affairs will be directed. The handover of these apartments is planned for mid-April.

The residential building on Moniki Cegłowskiej Street was built as part of the housing estate planned by PTBS, where ultimately as many as 1,100 Poznań families will be able to live. Currently, work is underway at the intersection of Poszwińskiego Street and Żołnierzy Wyklętych Street, where seven buildings with 290 apartments are being built under a subsidised rent-to-own system.

The plans for the complete PTBS housing estate consist of not only residential buildings, but also the entire accompanying infrastructure: playgrounds, urban landscaping, sports and recreation areas. Residents will be able to use bike shelters located outside of each building. A city bike share station will also be built nearby.

New streets have also been marked out for the estate: Moniki Cegłowskiej Street, Elżbiety Zawackiej Street, Jana Wiencka Street and Adama Poszwińskiego Street.

The construction of apartments in the Social Building Association system (Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego, or TBS) was financed by a loan from the City of Poznań and the company’s own funds, the participation of future tenants and a PLN 147,00m loan (EUR 34m) for the construction of 1,200 apartments granted by the European Investment Bank (EIB). According to PTBS plans, the last apartments will be built by the end of 2021. The bank’s financing will provide access to housing for people who cannot access municipal housing as their income is to high, and at the same time whose credit rating is too low to buy an apartment on the free market.

‘Combating social exclusion is a good way to promote cohesion and integration in our cities’, said Vazil Hudák, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), responsible for overseeing operations in cohesion policy countries, including in Poland. ‘We are proud to be able to support this important project of Poznańskie Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego [Poznań Social Building Association], which provides housing for people whose income is too high for them to be entitled to social or communal housing, but not enough for them to buy an apartment on the free market’.

Poznańskie Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego owns over 3,250 apartments, over 100 retail and service premises and over 1,000 parking spaces, which makes it one of the largest TBS in Poland. It actively cooperates with the Poznań City Hall, supporting the implementation of the gmina’s housing policy.

As a result of this cooperation, Poznańskie Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego has carried out housing investments within the framework of the following programmes: ‘Mieszkanie dla Seniora’ (Homes for Seniors), under which in 2009 and 2010, apartments were built on Grabowa Street and on Drewlańska Street, designed to accommodate the needs of the elderly, and ‘Mieszkanie dla Absolwenta’ (Homes for Graduates), under which in 2015, 143 apartments on Palacza Street were completed, designed for people who have completed higher education within the past five years and see their future in Poznań.