Over the past decade, Sareb has implemented more than 400 projects distributed across 17 autonomous communities in Spain. Most of them (90%) were housing projects (368) with a total built-up area of over 18 million m2. The leading region is Andalusia (more than 4 million m2), followed by the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Canary Islands, Castile-La Mancha and Castilla y Leon.
Housing projects and geography
The company, which manages the toxic assets of bailed-out financial institutions, explains that these projects include both existing residential buildings and those that will be built in the future. For example, it has recently promoted projects in the Madrid municipalities of Collado Villalba and Colmenar Viejo to build some 900 residential units.
Some of the more than 360 residential complexes have been built by Árqura Homes (the Sareb development company managed by Aelca), while others have been sold and others will go to Casa 47. This is a new public housing organization that has already officially begun functioning and has announced the first pilot project to build housing for rental in Vigo, Valencia and Asturias.
Industrial projects and services
In addition to these housing projects, the company has also invested in logistics, service and land plots for placing equipment. From 2016 to the present, it has launched 21 industrial projects (5% of the total). In this case, Aragon leads the way, followed by Madrid, Galicia and Castile-La Mancha. She also promoted small projects in other autonomies such as Catalonia, Andalusia and the Valencian Community. In the case of the services sector (16.4%), the Balearic Islands lead the way, although Sareb is also involved in similar projects in Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia.
The final stage of Sareb’s work
Sareb is currently in the final stages of its activities. This company was created in 2012 with the goal of liquidating toxic assets of financial institutions that were bailed out with public funds over the next 15 years (until November 2027). At the time of its creation, the company managed assets worth 50 billion euros.
During this time, the company sold assets and land, converted non-performing loans into real estate and stimulated development. It also entered into agreements with government agencies to provide them with housing that could be used for affordable rentals, and issued thousands of social tenancies to many of its properties’ tenants who did not have freehold rights. In addition, Sareb initiated approximately 3,300 legal proceedings to regain possession of occupied residential premises.
Transfer of Casa 47 assets and tender
The company’s next step will be to transfer to Casa 47, a new state-owned developer and management company, 40,000 residential properties and 2,400 plots of land from its portfolio, which can be included in the state fund, with a current market value of about 5.9 billion euros. In total, these assets can accommodate more than 55,000 residential units.
To carry out this transfer, Sareb launched a tender worth €4.4 million to find a company that will help it officially certify that the real estate assets (both residential buildings and land) meet the requirements of the Council of Ministers for transfer to the state rental housing park.
Among them:
- geographical requirements (location in certain areas and municipalities),
- economic requirements (area in square meters and estimated value)
- and technical requirements (residential buildings and apartments themselves cannot have “structural defects” and must be suitable for habitation).
The deadline for interested parties to submit applications is December 17th. The company that wins the bid will be required to inspect all assets of each property (including garage, living areas and storage rooms) and common areas. In the case of land plots, it will also be necessary to carry out an inspection to confirm their condition.
