The General Council of the Official Credit Institute (ICO) has approved the España Crece Investment Strategy, and housing will be the first area in which the strategy is implemented. The scheme will mobilise €12,150 million in funding and will enable financial support to be provided to projects throughout their entire life cycle, from the development and construction of homes to their long-term operation as affordable rental accommodation.
To this end, it offers three schemes tailored to the needs of different operators: funding for the construction of homes; long-term funding for their ownership and operation as rental properties; and an integrated scheme for those undertaking both phases.
Thus, a single project may begin with funding for development and, once construction is complete, automatically continue with long-term funding to maintain the homes as rental properties, providing continuity and financial certainty from the outset.
The scheme focuses public support on the development phase of affordable housing. To this end, it includes a non-repayable funding component, intended exclusively to bridge the proven financial viability gap of each project. The remainder of the funding will be provided on market terms, thereby encouraging the mobilisation of private investment and ensuring the financial sustainability of the model.
Through España Crece, the ICO will also launch an investment instrument to bolster the capital of affordable rental projects. Taken together, these instruments could total €13,787 million and, in collaboration with the private sector, mobilise around €23,000 million.
Sustainability is a cross-cutting element of España Crece; all instruments will incorporate environmental criteria aligned with the ‘Do No Significant Harm to the Environment’ (DNSH) principle and with the European climate labelling system set out in the Recovery Plan.
This approach is reflected both in instruments specifically designed to drive the green transition and in the incorporation of sustainability criteria across the entire España Crece programme.
In total, more than €5 billion – equivalent to 36.5% of the resources allocated to the capital injection – will be allocated to projects that meet the green labelling criteria established by the EU.
