Spain: Successfully Overcoming Crises Through Home Ownership

In 2020, the American fund Oaktree acquired Culmia, the former advertising company of Banco Sabadell. Culmia advocates for public-private partnerships for further growth.

As part of such plans, the government is transferring land to private companies for the purpose of leasing it at prices below market value.

“We are building 1,763 homes in the first phase of the Vive plan in the Madrid administrative region and 1,137 homes in the second phase.”

We will complete the construction of the first building in Alcorcón in November, and the first residents will only move in in 2024. We have also won two bids to build nearly 1,000 residential homes in a competition from the Madrid City Council and have applied for a public-private partnership in Málaga," explains Francisco Pérez, CEO of Culmia, in an interview with EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA.

The developer believes that there is a great potential for affordable rental housing in Spain.

“We have the task of organizing this market so that it becomes viable in competitions, in urban planning, and in financing, where assistance of 4 billion euros from European funds will be beneficial. We will continue to participate in competitions. We will try to support this approach also in Barcelona and its suburbs.”, adds Francisco Perez.

As confirmed by the executive director,They are already ready to offer their program for the third phase of the Vive plan, which will be subsidized by European funds, as well as for the Vienna plan, the Sareb project for the construction of 10,000 to 15,000 rental homes on lands owned by this organization, which was announced by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during the local and regional elections.

Housing policy.

Francisco Pérez believes that the current situation in the housing market requires government authorities to establish a State Housing Pact: "We need to reach a long-term agreement in the housing sector to address the existing need; otherwise, we will be hopping from one foot to the other."

The head of Culmia believes that the demand for emergency social housing is low but should be developed by the government: "Then, in the segment of affordable rental housing, which is needed by a broader segment of society, it is necessary to stimulate the attraction of private investments, as this requires a significant amount of funds that will not be covered by the state budget," he adds.

The managing director of the developer also believes it is not right to downplay the role of ownership: "Spain is a country that handles crises well because many people own their homes without a mortgage.

Peres gives the example of a pensioner: "With a pension of 1200 euros, if you own your home and have regular expenses, you can manage. But if you have a rent of 500 euros and then it goes up to 800, what will you do?"

Finally, the CEO of Culmia is asking the new government, which will be formed after the elections on June 23, to resume the review process of the Land Parcel Law that Ana Pardo de Vera promoted while serving as Secretary of State for Transport, Mobility, and Urban Development until her dismissal. "We need a law that ensures that in the event of a court ruling to suspend construction, there will be mechanisms in place to find a solution. The development of land parcels is the future of our economic activity," he concludes.