Affordable housing announcements and claims are usually measured in new developments, keys handed over, or flats incorporated into the public housing stock. However, the handover of a flat does not represent the end of the process, but the beginning of a stage for the family moving into the home. Thus, not only construction matters, but also the management of what happens afterwards, and that is where Emerald Impact focuses, having partnered with GuinotPrunera in a UTE that has been awarded the management of more than 4,700 affordable flats in Catalonia.
These homes are part of two lots of a Casa 47 tender, promoted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda —they have been two of four lots, the maximum that a single bidder could obtain. Globally, they will manage 6,228 affordable rental homes distributed not only in Catalonia, but also in Asturias, Galicia, Navarre, and the Basque Country. "It is a very important milestone, because it is a validation of our model, and we can start implementing it," highlights Paco Campos from Emerald Impact, established in October last year.
And what is this differential model? As the co-CEO of the company explains, it is based on an "inmosocial" model, which combines real estate management with support for tenant families. "Normally the real estate manager manages homes, and then the tenants come. We invert it: we manage families living in homes." This change of angle implies accompanying families in situations they may go through, such as job loss. "Instead of leading to the management of a non-payment situation, we focus on improving their employability and reversing that vulnerability, so that family can become solvent again."
"The point is to put families at the core of management," in a model in which Emerald is a pioneer. Now, it will be able to implement it together with GuinotPrunera in these thousands of homes, within the first major tender they have been awarded. The model also pursues environmental objectives, with actions that include raising awareness among tenant families about efficient energy use. Everything is also accompanied by technology and tools to measure the social impact of the initiative.
Thus, beyond the awarding of the tender, the operation represents the validation of this "inmosocial" model, which focuses on the tenant, rather than on the apartment they inhabit, with employability and monitoring programs. It does so without neglecting efficiency in real estate management, in which Emerald has 25 years of experience, through WeRent, the company's promoter along with Ingeus, specialized in employment support plans. Its trajectory is added to that of GuinotPrunera, with more than 120 years of experience in real estate and asset management from Barcelona: "The two companies had the opportunity to work in this area and it was a very good alliance to present ourselves to the tender," Campos emphasizes.
In this sense, the operation also represents a milestone for GuinotPrunera. As the CEO of the real estate company, Jordi Tomàs, highlights, "assuming the management of these affordable homes is a milestone in the commitment to affordable housing and to contributing, directly, to combating the problem of access to housing in Spain."
The assignment includes the comprehensive management of affordable housing rentals, from the formalization of the rental to the management of contracts and payments, attention to cohabitation units, maintenance, community management, legal advice, and also prevention, detection, and early attention actions in situations of risk of housing loss.
As Campos remarks, this management and accompaniment of tenants is necessary to "be able to contribute to providing solutions to the housing problem," in a context where administrations and the private sector are looking for formulas to expand the affordable residential park. "We have great developers, but there are hardly any operators specialized in managing these homes during the 75 years that a protected development can last," he states. And, when analyzing a project of this duration, "the 75 years weigh much more than the moment of construction."
In that journey over the decades is where a good part of the success of public housing policies is played out, according to Campos. Because managing a residential park is not just about erecting and maintaining buildings or collecting rents, but about creating the conditions for families to be able to remain in them. And there, Campos argues, is where the differential value of a model that aims to put people before properties lies.