COFIDES promotes social housing in Spain through the Social Impact Fund

COFIDES will promote affordable housing for vulnerable groups through the Social Impact Fund

With this goal, it has formalized two new operations today with Provivienda and Primero H in a ceremony held at the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, attended by Minister Elma Saiz and Secretary-General for Inclusion Elena Rodríguez. Both operations total €7.15 million from the Social Impact Fund (FIS), consolidating the FIS Social Impact Housing Line as one of the main public instruments to guarantee the right to decent housing, especially for the most vulnerable groups.

FINANCING FOR PROVIVIENDA TO ACQUIRE 53 SOCIAL RENTAL HOMES

COFIDES has granted Provivienda a loan of €5.65 million for the association to acquire 53 homes for social rental, making them available to individuals and social entities. This financing will strengthen Provivienda’s structural and territorial capacity, as it manages a large portfolio of social housing across various autonomous communities. It is estimated that around 95% of the people accessing these homes will have incomes equal to or less than three times the IPREM, ensuring that support reaches those in the most vulnerable situations.

A technical assistance of €250,000 is also planned to support the social work Provivienda provides to the beneficiaries. This support will be crucial to implement new mediation, coordination, and monitoring tools, as well as to improve intervention processes that facilitate the integration of households into their communities.

FINANCING FOR PRIMERO H TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ERADICATION OF HOMELESSNESS

COFIDES has granted a loan of €1.5 million to Primero H, a social impact REIT (SOCIMI) focused on eradicating homelessness. The financing will enable the acquisition of approximately 10 homes, which will be added to its rental portfolio at prices significantly below the market, helping to ease the housing access tension in urban areas. The initiative is estimated to potentially benefit over 130 people, giving them access to a stable and secure home that supports their autonomy.

In addition to financing, the operation includes technical assistance of €200,000 to strengthen the organization’s operational capacity and ensure the proper social management of the homes. This assistance will fund specialized services such as social impact evaluation and improved management processes to maximize the model’s effectiveness and guarantee that the homes are sustainably integrated into their surroundings and meet the needs of the target groups.

FIS SOCIAL IMPACT HOUSING LINE

With these two new operations, the FIS Social Impact Housing Line continues to strengthen a nationwide network of affordable rental housing. Along with the tuTechô operation, this line now totals nearly €11 million across three operations aimed at combating homelessness and increasing the supply of decent housing in various regions of Spain.

The Social Impact Housing Line has an initial allocation of €40 million. Its aim is to channel investment into innovative affordable and social housing projects, facilitating access for vulnerable groups such as young people in precarious employment, low-income single-parent families, migrants, and elderly people with low pensions. It includes various access modalities – rental, transfer, or other innovative solutions – in safe, accessible environments with basic services.

COFIDES President Ángela Pérez stated: “Access to decent housing for the most vulnerable groups is a responsibility for all of society. With these new operations, the FIS not only helps expand the affordable rental supply but also supports projects that combine housing with social support, providing essential assistance to strengthen stability and full integration.”

Eduardo Gutiérrez, Co-director of Provivienda, said: “To enable more people to access affordable housing, we need stable financing and collaboration between the public and social sectors, so that we speak of rights and not isolated solutions. The Social Impact Fund is an example of how to advance in that direction.”

Javier Basagoiti, President of ASOCIMI, noted that the agreement “marks the start of a very fruitful public-private collaboration, which will provide affordable housing solutions for vulnerable people at a time of particular difficulty in accessing housing. Primero H’s purpose is to facilitate this access, especially for people experiencing homelessness. We believe this problem, which affects thousands, can be solved, and we aim to lay the foundations for a permanent solution.”

ABOUT THE SOCIAL IMPACT FUND

The FIS is a fund created by the Government through an addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and is funded through the NextGenerationEU instrument. Attached to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, it is a public financial instrument designed to strengthen Spain’s impact ecosystem by supporting investment projects carried out by companies and other entities that generate measurable positive social and/or environmental impact.

The fund has €400 million and provides financial support to projects that are financially sustainable and address under-served social and environmental challenges, while also mobilizing additional private resources.

ABOUT PROVIVIENDA

Provivienda is a non-profit association founded in 1989 and recognized as Spain’s first social housing provider. Its mission is to guarantee the right to housing on equal terms, especially for the most vulnerable. Over its 35+ years, it has managed more than 72,000 homes and hosted over 172,000 people. Currently, it manages a rental portfolio of over 3,000 homes.

ABOUT PRIMERO H

Primero H is a SOCIMI founded in 2021, aimed at providing affordable housing to vulnerable groups to eradicate homelessness in Spain. It has 26 properties in the Madrid and Palma de Mallorca regions. It develops an innovative model combining responsible real estate investment, specialized social support, and collaboration with expert entities such as HOGAR SÍ. Its approach focuses on ensuring housing stability for homeless people, offering safe and decent homes alongside personalized inclusion programs.

ABOUT COFIDES

COFIDES is a state-owned company that manages government financial funds as well as its own and third-party resources for different objectives: internationalizing the Spanish economy, attracting foreign investment to strategic sectors in Spain, promoting the impact economy in Spain, and contributing to the development of countries in which it invests. Its shareholders include the Spanish State (majority), Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell, and CAF – Latin American Development Bank