The housing market crisis seems to have no end, and many professionals in the sector predict a dark future in this area. However, these same experts are also the first to assure that they have begun to see the first green shoots in the sector for the coming years. At the presentation of the new edition of The District fair, which will be held in Barcelona between September 30 and October 2, sector experts discussed the current market context in Catalonia and Spain in a round table, which, although it has been in an evident crisis for years, the new housing plan presented by the Ministry could expedite the solution. Before that, however, the CEO of the congress, Juan Velayos, explained that the event's intention continues to be internationalization and to reaffirm itself as the meeting point for Real Estate throughout Southern Europe.
In the first round table of the congress presentation, the co-founder and co-CEO of the developer Conren Tramway, Jaime-Enrique Hugas, assured that the new Spanish housing plan has positive aspects, since it triples the investment in official protection housing and should be applauded. In this sense, he stressed that if co-investment between the central government and autonomous communities is managed correctly, it can be a good anchor to change the sector and "change the panorama".
For his part, the CEO of Alas Vivienda Asequible, Manel Rodríguez, added that to improve the sector, social needs must not be lost sight of and housing production must be rapidly multiplied. A fact that, he commented, inevitably leads to thinking about standardizing production and not going "building by building," but "neighborhood by neighborhood," as also pointed out by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa. In this vein, he also recalled that to execute this ambitious country plan, it would be necessary, at a minimum, to double productive capacity and "standardize processes" to work "on a large scale".
Lastly, Osborne Clarke partner, Julián Matos, has also shown great optimism regarding legal certainty on housing, especially concerning the limitation of rental prices. In this regard, he recalled that countries with legislation similar to Spain's, such as Ireland or the Netherlands, are already rolling back measures on rent control because investment has stopped.
Investment in housing must be tripled
Despite these positive views on the housing market, the three experts have stressed that the current situation is not good at all. Hugas highlighted—in line with The District's theses—that capital must be attracted to significantly increase housing supply, since in recent years, and due to legislation limiting rental prices, "build-to-rent has died" and all projects "have been put on hold awaiting better times." In this regard, the businessman also criticized the current system, assuring that "without private initiative, we will not achieve any objective" in housing matters, since "the administration is not prepared nor does it have the resources" to end the housing crisis. "The situation is tragic," he concluded.For his part, Rodríguez has also pointed out that Europe is experiencing "a housing crisis of spectacular gravity that could jeopardize the welfare state." At the same time, the expert added that this crisis has been worsened by legislative changes in recent years. In this vein, the businessman specializing in subsidized housing has stated that "drastic decisions must be made" and that hundreds of prepared homes must begin to be built so that young people between 20 and 35 years old can opt for their first home. To achieve this, Rodríguez has pointed out that the price of these homes should not exceed 300,000 euros, because those with higher prices already have a good volume of supply.
In addition, both Hugas and Rodríguez have harshly criticized the bureaucratic slowness in preparing land for building, since it takes approximately "seventeen years for it to be ready for a license application." That is why both businessmen have called on autonomous communities and city councils to meet to solve this problem.
Finally, Matos has highlighted that the current regulatory framework in Spain goes against investment in rental housing and has caused the destruction of the "build-to-rent" model, as has also happened in a large part of Europe.
PropCo and OpCo or how to increase performance with property control
The presentation of The District also featured a second round table discussion about PropCos and OpCos that will be protagonists at this year's event. This model includes two types of companies aimed at increasing the performance of Real Estate properties through space management companies separated from the property owners. On this topic, Maribel Meléndez, Corporate General Director at Renta Corporación, explained that "aligning owners and operators is key to understanding the product and achieving profitability". In this regard, Olaf Rigola, Real Estate Development Manager at Rockfield, stated that "for the manager there are always two clients: the end user and the fund. This is why management companies need to be efficient for both.Olaf Rigola (Rockfield): "for the manager there are always two clients: the end user and the fund"With the aim of achieving this efficiency, Rigola and Neus Giné, financial director of Vita Group in Spain, have highlighted digital proposals, explaining that, in the student residences they manage, they use applications to get to know their tenants better, through which they can receive both property incidents and conduct surveys to improve services. For his part, the Rockfield executive stressed that "to rent housing, we already find that energy ratings must be met, something for which technology helps us."
Regarding risks, Carlos Basté, director of alternative financing at Stoneweg, has pointed out that in segments such as hospitality, "the solvency of the hotel's management group provides peace of mind to the financier," while in flex, "it is complicated as it is very new, but it provides comfort due to the high demand for housing."
The salon faces a new record edition
Regarding strictly the congress, Velayos has assured that, as in each of the last editions, the structure continues to be the same, placing financial capital at the center to base and anchor the need that the sector has. That is why he has insisted that the congress must serve to unite all the real estate of Southern Europe and demonstrate all the value they can bring to international investors. For this reason, the organization proposes a congress where all activities revolve around the interests of investors from an "ecosystemic" point of view and that they can understand inside out how it works and what is happening in the Southern European region.Nevertheless, the CEO of the congress has assured that they expect, one more year, the forecast is to surpass all last year's records, with more than 14,000 registered congress attendees and the presence of more than 2,500 large international investors who will be able to visit more than 350 exhibitors. At the same time, during the three days the event will last, there will be more than 450 international speakers such as King Street, Greykite, TPG, Ardian, Tikehau, Stoneweg or Stronghold, among others. In addition, the organization expects about 700 meetings to be closed between members of the ecosystem. "We are getting the people who dominate the sector to want to come to chat and experience the congress," Velayos assured.
Finally, the businessman announced that this year's guest country will be Italy, since after many years, it is a territory where interesting real estate investments can begin to occur and a large part of international and national capital is looking at this market with interest.
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