Decisive moment for Sareb. The Sociedad de Gestión de Activos Procedentes de la Restructuración Bancaria has launched a complex plan to get rid of the 27,716 million in real estate assets that remain inherited from the old savings banks. Also known as a bad bank, it has the mandate to dissolve in 2027, so in the next four years it must execute the sale of these properties or land that it still has in its portfolio.
To dispose of the assets, Sareb is acting on several fronts. The main line of business is the sale of homes that still accumulate in stock. The entity has almost 47,600 homes on its balance sheet, according to the data as of December 31, 2022, of which 12,000 are offered to the general public. The disinvestment rate is high: some 200 homes are sold per week at an average price of 97,000 euros. Last year it got rid of 8,500 and in 2021 it got rid of 9,800. An important fact is that these are mostly individual sales, since 92% of property buyers are individuals.
In order to sell the homes, the state company has just awarded the sale to Hipoges and Anticipa/Aliseda, belonging to Blackstone. Interest rate rises do not affect operations too much, internal sources indicate, because assets continue to collect some discount and even gain visibility at times like the present.
The rate of sale has allowed Sareb to reduce its volume of assets in a matter of a decade. Compared to the initial 50,781 million, 2022 closed with the aforementioned 27,716 million pending. In this time, in addition, the portfolio has changed radically. Thus, Sareb currently has €14.7 billion, 60%, in real estate assets and €10.8 billion, 40%, in loans. The rest of the portfolio, up to the aforementioned 27,716 million, corresponds to assets of the promoter Árqura. When Sareb was created, 78% were toxic loans inherited from the old savings banks and barely 22% were homes.
The entity chaired by Javier Torres has activated, in parallel to the sale of real estate, a plan to use a bag of land to build around 10,000 homes to allocate them to social rental, that is, at lower prices than those offered in the market. The project has been named Vienna and is one of the jewels in the crown of the entity 51% owned by the State. At this moment there are about 100 lands available in thirteen autonomous communities; land also coming from the balance sheets of the old savings banks which, thanks to agreements with private developers, could be used to respond to the high demand for affordable rent that exists.
Sareb sources indicate that most of these lands prepared to build social rental housing are found in the Valencian Community (26%), Catalonia (21%) and Castilla y León (16%). The entity has hired PwC to advise it on this project whose legal formula involves an assignment of surface rights for a period suitable for the investment, which would exceed 50 years. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has shown interest in financing the developments. When Sareb ends up dissolving, in 2027, the state body that inherits the Vienna plan would be in charge of completing it.
This project will serve to dispose of the large amount of land still in Sareb’s portfolio. It has 32,367 units also inherited from the toxic assets of the bank and has found a good solution in social housing. The Public Sector Procurement Law reduces bureaucratic procedures for the state-owned company, which can appear before town halls and regional administrations as a good ally for future lease developments at affordable prices.
With this plan, Sareb will become the largest housing developer in Spain, only behind the State Land Entity, Sepes, which aspires to develop 17,000 units. In Catalonia, the Generalitat has a project for 5,000 homes for the same destination, a figure similar to that of the Community of Madrid.
Sareb has also hired an adviser for the possible sale for around 900 million euros of its promoter Árqura Homes, which has plans to build some 17,000 homes.
All these initiatives are launched at a time of change at Sareb. The Frob has taken a majority stake of 51% and, under the presidency of Torres, the group has reduced its board of directors and applied a plan to adapt management salaries to the increasingly reduced size of the company.