The tenants‘ initiative in Ostrava region (INN Moravskoslezsko) started to operate in the autumn of 2023. The local tenants were organizing before, however they have chosen to create an organizational structure of a union just recently. INN Moravskoslezsko operates in one particular locality, which is called Liščina. Liščina is a former miners‘ colony composed of semi-detached wooden houses that were built after the Second World War. The local tenants invested money and labor in the houses where they live until today. Liščina as well as many other houses and flats in Ostrava and the Czech Republic was privatized in the 1990s. However, instead of the sitting tenants, the houses were privatized by a Czech oligarch Zdeněk Bakala. Bluntly speaking, it was a plunder – a private person privatized 43,000 units in the region instead of the tenants who were supposed to become owners. The tenants have been paying the price for it until now. Recently, 43,000 units including Liščina were sold to the Swedish corporation Heimstaden. Today, we organize tenants in the locality of Liščina. We want to know what the plans of Heimstaden for this locality are and whether the tenants who spent all their lives here could remain in their houses. Heimstaden wants to sell some of the houses for unacceptably high prices and rent others for prices that could be unaffordable for the local tenants. The corporation also plans to demolish some of the houses. We want stable and affordable housing for all and the rights to housing of all the tenants to be protected. Currently, the negotiations between the corporation and the tenants are taking place.
Contact
Website: https://iniciativanajemniku.cz/
E-Mail: ahoj@iniciativanajemniku.cz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iniciativa_najemniku/
Twitter/ X: https://twitter.com/INNiniciativa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iniciativanajemniku
- International Network #StopHeimstaden – Czech Republic / INN: Two open letters to the Swedish CEOs of Heimstaden
Our Initiative in not only calling on the leadership of the Czech branch of Heimstaden CZ, but we also the main Swedish management of this company to negotiate. We are contacting Mr. Robin Wilhelmsson and Mr. Patrik Hall (see the letter to one of those below) to see if they know what is happening in the Czech Republic. And we are not alone! Our appeal is supported by the international European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City and all its member organizations! In particular, the German and Swedish tenants‘ unions, who also voice the disagreement for Heimstaden’s actions , have expressed their support. Thank you!
Letter to Heimstaden – Patrick Hall. From the Czech Republic with love.
Letter to Heimstaden – Robin Wilhelmsson. From the Czech Republic with love.