During the second half of September and early October, the webinar organised by Sogeviso entitled “Affordable rental housing: prominence and investment opportunity” focused on the need for a public-private collaboration in the development of affordable rental housing in Spain.
Over the course of four sessions, with four speakers and a moderator in each session, we delved into a range of content related to the issue. The high-profile speakers and the response of the participants have led us to a very positive assessment of the conference.
Below you will find the conference programme as well as the video version of the full content of each session.
Link to the conference programme.
Link to video first day (15/09)
Link to vídeo second day (22/09)
Link to vídeo third day (29/09)
Link to vídeo fourth day (06/10)
The first session, on 15 September, addressed the “Diagnosis and Situation of Affordable Renting in Spain”. This session highlighted the current deficit in housing and also the difficulty of the public administration to provide a solution, so the collaboration between all the stakeholders appears to be essential in facing this challenge. It also became clear that a new long-term policy with a high degree of consensus is needed, which must be accompanied by legal certainty, something that is unfortunately lacking.
The second session, on 22 September, was based on an explanation and analysis of “Experiences in the Development and Management of Affordable Rental Housing”. In this session it was noted different formulas exist in public-private partnerships, depending on their social value and the capacity for public intervention, emphasising that there are different problems and different solutions. The need to generate legal stability, improved fiscal aspects, suitable regulatory implementation to encourage limited-profit corporate vehicles, as well as the need for a public budget as a key starting point is in addition to the understanding that housing policies are transversal: urban development (generation of land), social, economic, environmental, mobility, etc.
The third session, on 29 September, discussed the “Present and Future of Public-Private Partnerships in the Development of Affordable Housing Projects”. The point of origin was the agreement that we have a public resource that cannot be put on hold (land) and that different models have already emerged from this (AMB Barcelona, Madrid), which are useful, suggestive and very interesting. The importance of industrialisation and the financing of development and targeted investment was also discussed, as well as the need to establish an affordable rental price that guarantees a minimum return. It was noted that the existing housing stock has to be taken into account, as well as the needs of non-target territories.
In the fourth and final session, on 6 October, there was an in-depth exploration of going “From Administrative Management to Socially Responsible Management”. In this sense, from the viewpoint of private investment, there was an emphasis on social impact investment (ESG – SROI), as well as on the emergence of the “social” SOCIMI, a Spanish acronym for Listed Investment Companies on the Property Market. In terms of non-profit organisations with a high social content, there was special emphasis placed on direct management of social support and the need for public coverage to carry out their programmes. Finally, the public management area focused on how coexistence, social intervention and occupancy are managed.
As a general conclusion of all the sessions, we can point out, firstly, that there is a consensus regarding a highly intensive public-private collaboration as the best solution for the necessary and urgent industrialised production of affordable rental housing and an essential factor to improve the situation; secondly, the importance of having political will and available public budgets; and finally, that there are a wide range of alternatives, many of which are complementary.
It should be noted that several of the speakers stated that Sogeviso is a benchmark in the socially responsible management of rental housing portfolios and valued positively the initiative of this conference due to the current nature of the issues addressed, the high profile of the participants, and the resulting exchange of knowledge and experiences.
Finally, we would like to thank all the speakers for their willingness and participation, and all the attendees for their connection.