The Sareb Board of Directors approved on Wednesday the launch of Plan Vienna, a public-private collaboration initiative in which the entity will make available to investors finalised plots ready for construction in the medium term. The plan envisions 10,600 homes dedicated to affordable rental, meaning rents set below market levels. This crucial approval comes more than six months later than initially anticipated, as it had been on hold since the start of the year.
The first phase will include the development of up to 3,770 new apartments and requires a cumulative investment of 460 million euros. It will be put to tender next autumn, starting in October. The land parcels are spread across 39 municipalities with populations exceeding 10,000 residents.
The region that benefits most will be Catalonia, which accounts for 12 plots to build 668 homes; followed by Balearic Islands (2 plots, 58 homes), Andalusia (7 plots, 589 homes), Murcia (3 plots, 181 homes), Valencia (10 plots, 1,065 homes), Aragon (1 plot, 39 homes), Castilla y León (2 plots, 131 homes), Castilla-La Mancha (1 plot, 124 homes), Madrid (3 plots, 177 homes), Galicia (4 plots, 301 homes), Asturias (1 plot, 101 homes) and the Canary Islands (4 plots, 337 homes).
The total Plan Vienna aims to activate 133 final plots through a long-term surface rights arrangement for building rental housing available at affordable rates. The program could be expanded to reach 15,000 homes, a scope Sareb has consistently defended. PwC, acting as the plan’s designer, structured a surface-right model in which Sareb, the so-called “bad bank,” leases the land for a 75-year term. After that period, the properties would return to Sareb or its successor, given Sareb’s anticipated dissolution before 2027. It is anticipated that successful bidders will benefit from low-cost financing provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“The project responds to the effort to increase the supply of housing under affordable rental terms by embracing public-private collaboration. To achieve this, Sareb has assessed its land portfolio to identify sites in municipalities with high housing-cost burdens and strong demand for affordable rentals. The successful bidders will be responsible for the entire investment to develop the housing project and for managing affordable rentals during the duration of the land-use agreement,” the entity stated in a press note distributed to media outlets.
Half-Year Delay
The Vienna Plan was ready to begin its journey earlier this year. However, changes within the Economy Ministry, marked by Nadia Calviño’s move to the European Investment Bank, led to the ascent of Carlos Cuerpo, a position that was subsequently filled by Paula Conthe, former president of Frob. This sequence compelled Sareb to appoint a new president, a role eventually assigned to Álvaro López Barceló.
Although PwC and Sareb had everything prepared and had already begun preliminary conversations with prospective investors for the program, it should have received approval from the new Board of Directors led by Frob. At this juncture, as reported by this newspaper, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda demanded greater prominence as the authority charged with promoting social and affordable housing, even though Sareb falls within the purview of the Economy ministry. All these moves caused uncertainty among interested investors in Plan Vienna, who observed a sudden halt in progress, according to multiple testimonies reported by this publication.
Investors eyeing the plan were reassured by the possibility of a structured development process, clear governance, and a pathway to capital efficiency through public-private collaboration. The broader industry view emphasized the potential of Plan Vienna to unlock large-scale, lower-cost rental housing by leveraging Sareb’s land holdings and regional development frameworks. While the entanglements of administrative leadership briefly disrupted momentum, market participants continued to monitor the plan’s trajectory for signals on financing conditions, timelines, and potential amendments to the tender process that could accelerate deployment once political and institutional alignments stabilized. The conversation around Plan Vienna illustrates a broader shift toward leveraging publicly owned assets to expand affordable housing supply in select Spanish markets, with the expectation of a measurable impact on rental affordability in the medium term. [Citation: Sareb press materials and market reporting on Plan Vienna developments]