The scale of investment in rental housing, dormitories and senior housing in Poland – despite the pandemic – has increased significantly. We have witnessed new players entering the market as well as expansion of existing players. Reports from real estate agencies indicate that Poland offers scalable business opportunities and investors can count on higher initial returns than in Western or Southern Europe or Scandinavian countries. At what stage of the build-to-rent (BTR) market are we? What makes Poland a target for investors?
We invite you to listen to a conversation between Małgorzata Dankowska from TPA Poland and Dariusz Węglicki, Country Manager of Catella Polska.
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Catella is one of the forerunners of investments in the rental market.
“We have been present in this market for over 4 years. We operate three properties and lease them to our Clients, primarily individuals. We have a very diverse housing portfolio. It includes 200 apartments in the center of Warsaw (the Pereca 11 project) in the basic standard, 72 apartments in the Zlota 44 building, and finally a project in Kraków, where we have apartments for rent, but also a student house. We are very satisfied with these investments. There was a lot of uncertainty at first, but we learned how to manage rental in these assets. We also gained a lot of experience,” Dariusz Węglicki points out.
Speaking of experience, the last few months have been all about the pandemic and the limitations it entails. The rental market certainly has a lot to say about the impact of the pandemic.
“There can be no doubt that the pandemic means new experiences. There was a very strong downward pressure on rents during that time. You could rent an apartment cheaper on the open market. As a fund, we could not lower prices, but we used other solutions. We also tried to reach out to our tenants who reported issues related to COVID. For example, we have spread out payments into installments or, in extreme situations, offered rent-free periods. Good quality Internet access became one of the most important new needs of our Clients. In addition, we observed that tenants were looking for larger premises in order to be able work from home,” concludes Dariusz Węglicki.
If we wanted to summarize institutional rental, what would be most important issue?
“What is the key when it comes to investing in institutional rental is scale, diversification and know-how,” Małgorzata Dankowska sums up .
Other issues addressed in the podcast include:
- What stage is the BTR market currently at?
- Is Poland still an attractive country for foreign investors?
- What does an institutional landlord have to offer compared to an individual landlord?
- How to make institutional rental investment decisions?
- Do tenants’ expectations regarding rented properties matter?
- What are the most common questions asked by foreign investors?
- What are Catella’s plans for the future?
