Nové Kukleny – Bytové družstvo Koželužna is a municipal cooperative housing initiative in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, focused on creating more affordable home ownership without the need for individual mortgages. The project is being developed on the brownfield site of the former tannery (koželužna) in the Kukleny district, which is to be transformed into a modern residential zone.
The city of Hradec Králové is the initiator and founding member of the new housing cooperative established specifically for this project. Other founding members are Stavební bytové družstvo Náchod (a regional cooperative housing provider) and the company revitalizujeme.cz, which is involved in brownfield regeneration and development. The cooperative’s purpose is to build accessible housing with an expected reduction in apartment prices of roughly 25% below prevailing market levels, achieved through the cooperative financing model.
In this model, residents become cooperative members. They pay a basic membership contribution of 10,000 CZK, followed by a one‑off payment of 25% of the apartment price. The remaining amount is financed by a long‑term loan taken out by the cooperative and repaid through regular monthly payments over 25 or 30 years. This structure is designed to make ownership possible without taking out a personal mortgage.
The Koželužna apartment building is described as a pilot project for municipal cooperative housing in Hradec Králové. It targets primarily young families, households with middle incomes, and other residents seeking stable, long‑term housing in the city. Alongside the administrative process of establishing the cooperative, the city is conducting project preparation and has launched a contact form to gauge demand and preferences, with several hundred responses already recorded, indicating strong interest in the Nové Kukleny location.