5,800 in Spain nursing homes and only 7 senior life projects still in development. The rate is low, but what is the old life? The term adopted by the real estate industry encompasses various types of assets and concepts that accommodate seniors without the need for residency, such as luxury resorts to retire with all services or a get-together for seniors who share concerns. “There is no single model and there is enough demand,” says its National Director, Nuria Béjar. health care Savills in real estate consulting.
This market is very important at European level, Mobilizing more than 4,000 million euros of investment in the first half of this year alone. It is one of the fashion segments of Emlak, with an increase in operations 38% above the average of the last five years. The most active players are mutual funds, pension funds, investment managers, Socimis, financial institutions and promoters; According to the Savills report. During the first period, 55% of all socio-sanitary assets traded were residential and 11% were inhabited by seniors at the European level.
In the case of our country, the senior living or alternative accommodation segment is not very developed. With the aging of the population, the number of elderly people is increasing. “There’s a high percentage, close to 80%, that’s perfectly valid,” says Béjar. This type of population demands serviced areas without needing these guards, something that cannot keep up with its supply. health care Spanish. “We are very confident that it will develop little by little because it is a mature and stable product in other European markets. registry”, this industry leader at consulting firm JLL, Lourdes Pérez Carrasco, pointed out at a roundtable meeting organized by Bnew. The Savills leader adds that Spain is “a market to watch closely”, where it “has an incredible opportunity”.
The senior life manager at JLL explains what the first ventures in Spain were:The first senior lifelines were a coastal product for foreigners., but now in urban, central locations that meet national demand”. The profile of residents of this type of complex is sophisticated users with high purchasing power and culture, seeking all-inclusive services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Antonio Punti, COO and partner of Layetana, believes that nationals and foreigners should remain in independent entities, as cultures are not always compatible.
Various investment models
Traditionally, funds and investment vehicles have simply invested in nursing homes. They would buy or develop an asset, find an operator, sign a long-term inflation-indexed lease and management contract, and collect periodic coupons. This type of investment is linked to parameters such as euros per square meter or the income generated by each resident. In times of inflation like now, it is the operator, not the owner, who takes all the risk. Again, new models move towards mixed formulaswith a constant income and another performance-based variable.
“We had a project on the table where a model of exploitation linked to investment, more about variable performance, was proposed. Being active in a risky, newly formed market, investors react negatively. We analyzed fixed or variable models, and the latter does not shoot,” says Lourdes Pérez Carrasco. Antonio Punti believes that the same model cannot be used in elderly living as in traditional residences or hotels, but rather as an intermediate point. The former has a fixed income each month, while the latter has a significant variable percentage.
space concept
It should be noted that there are elderly living rooms, people over the age of 65 and there may be some movement restrictions. “We try to make everything natural. In addition to the services, green spaces or meeting places between residents are introduced. Our user is not just the person living there, but the environment and the people who visit it. “We’re trying to create hybrid spaces to teach or teach yoga,” says Susana Aristoy, PMMT architect team manager.
Energy efficiency parameters are one of the factors that must be met, especially if the investor is an international fund. Most have some sort of Leed or Sea Bream badge.. Despite this, Aristoy brings up one of the problems of energy conservation policy: “Energy has caused us to close buildings a lot in order not to lose anything, but we don’t have a clear idea of the air we breathe. . Oftentimes, residential and senior living users do not actively carry out air reform”.