The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) have signed a €163 million loan to finance the construction of affordable rental housing with high energy efficiency standards in Catalonia. This is the first tranche of a total loan of €490 million that is supported by the EU's InvestEU programme.

It is expected that the investment will be able to finance the construction of more than 4,300 subsidized affordable housing units on a rental basis from which more than 10,000 people will benefit, thus contributing to social inclusion and urban regeneration. The homes are expected to be completed between the signing of the loan and mid-2028, and will help alleviate the deficit of affordable rental housing, reduce energy consumption and energy consumption for tenants, and greenhouse gas emissions. The investment contributes to the EIB's strategic priority of strengthening Europe's social infrastructure, investing in health, education and housing.

"Access to affordable and environmentally friendly housing has become a first necessity in many European regions and is one of the EIB's strategic priorities," said Gilles Badot, EIB's Director of Operations for Spain and Portugal. "We are delighted to join forces again with ICF in this important operation to make housing available to citizens in Catalonia adapted to their needs and energy efficient."

The project is key to addressing the shortage of affordable housing, which is a priority in Catalonia. The social rental housing available in the region represents only 1.7% of the total number of primary residences, according to the Metropolitan Housing Observatory of Barcelona.

The Minister of Economy and Finance of the Government of the Generalitat, Natalia Mas, assures that "this is a historic operation, on the one hand, because it is the most valuable loan that the EIB has granted to the ICF and, on the other, because it addresses a very important problem that we must solve, such as access to housing. Nowadays, accessing housing is very difficult for a significant part of the population. And the main cause is the lack of supply, especially of public housing, and this operation helps us to reverse this reality."

"As a public development bank, the ICF has as its strategic axis the promotion of social and affordable rental housing, together with the green transition, reindustrialisation and support for the primary sector", said Vanessa Servera i Planas, CEO of the ICF. "Thanks to this EIB loan, and the indispensable participation of the Catalan Housing Agency that subsidizes the financial costs of operations, we will be able to finance more rental and energy-sustainable housing construction projects to guarantee the right to housing in Catalonia."

The project will also foster economic growth and the creation of skilled jobs in the construction sector. It is estimated that the project will generate the equivalent of 6,850 jobs during its execution.

This loan is in addition to other existing financing and advisory collaborations between the EIB Group and the ICF, which aim to boost the twin green and digital transitions and foster the competitiveness of companies. Other recent collaborations include the launch of the Advanced Technology Investment Fund (FITA) in February 2024 and the loan signed in June 2023 between the EIB and ICF to finance SMEs and mid-caps in Catalonia, which included an advisory service for sustainable projects.