International markets new? Well no... The Netherlands was new to me in fact!
Margarethe van der Vorm lived abroad from the age of 17, only returning to the Netherlands 18 years later to continue her father's business activities. "The Dutch market was new to me ... I really had to get into it completely. In 2007, our international expansion started and we purchased the first foreign property, in Paris. For me, having lived and worked there for a long time, familiar territory. London soon followed. It was mainly the quality and experience of the homes in London that we wanted to introduce into the Dutch portfolio. There was so much more attention to a high-quality finish there, so different from here in the Netherlands. This eventually led to selling part of the old 'social' housing portfolio (NL) and starting to build a housing portfolio like the one we have today. With a higher quality level of finishing, attention to service orientation and extra living experience through community activities and (vegetable) gardens, among other things. Then things moved quickly with domestic and foreign acquisitions, with each city having its own rules and customs, from which we also learned a lot."
Meanwhile, we have also built up a portfolio in Poland. The commercial residential rental market (PRS) is still in its infancy and we thus consider it a market where we can bring together much of our national and international experience in order to introduce a beautiful and profitable residential product. There we see a very promising market with a large, young, highly educated, target group that is in the process of building a beautiful working and living career. We offer them high-quality and fully furnished rental apartments in strategic locations in Warsaw and Krakow: within walking distance of the city center, liveliness and mobility. And the great thing is: there is still plenty of growth potential here, in terms of space but also due to the strong Polish economy!" With a market share of now around 5% in this market, our focus is to increase market share through new acquisitions. To further expand our portfolio, we are looking for and talking to partner companies and equity partners who share our ambitions.
Margarethe is clear in her ambitions: "We will always continue to build on the quality of our portfolio. And we also want to offer our tenants more and more, in housing quality, sustainability, environment and service. We do that in all our countries. Because all our tenants have one thing in common: they deserve all room for quality!"
