Spain's largest landlord is selling properties due to legal uncertainty.

Blackstone remains the largest owner of residential real estate in Spain, roughly owning 40,000 homes acquired during the bank's confiscation from small owners. Through their companies such as Anticipa, Aliseda, Testa and Albirana, they manage these properties and rent them out.

The strategy of this US fund has been dramatically changed at the beginning of 2021, however, and it is noticeable. In fact, they stopped buying homes to rent out and started selling these properties on the market, gradually reducing their real estate portfolio. From January 2021 through June 2022 alone, Albirana has sold about 1,500 residential homes.

But Albirana is not the only one holding sales, also Testa, another company within the large real estate group Blackstone. Late last year they sold 740 homes to French company AXA.

Now Blackstone has not confirmed their plans or targets for selling the remaining housing in Spain, but all indications are that the strategy they started two years ago will continue and they will be selling dozens of properties in the coming months.

Why did they make this decision?The reason for this revision depends on the legal uncertainty that the PCOE and Podemos government has established in the real estate market. With the new housing law and measures to control rental property prices, large landlords have been hit hard. In fact, already in 2019 they received the first blow when the government decided to increase the lease term from three to seven years for legal entities, as in this case. These and other measures such as price controls, tax penalties for empty housing and other new regulations have led to a reduction in the property of the largest owner in Spain.