ICO to contribute 168 million euros to the first two vehicles for the construction of over 4,500 affordable rental housing units under the InvestEU guarantee programme

22 July 2025

  • The investment will be conduced through the first two operations presented by ICO and approved by the InvestEU Investment Committee, the proposals from Beka-Avintia Inmobiliaria and DWS.
  • These two operations are part of the "ICO InvestEU Social Fund” call, launched to select vehicles for the investment and mobilisation of resources for public-private partnerships to boost affordable rental housing stock.

The Investment Committee of the European InvestEU programme has approved the guarantee for ICO to make the first two investments, amounting to 168 million euros, within the framework of the "ICO InvestEU Social Fund" call, which will enable the construction and management of more than 4,500 affordable rental housing units.

This investment will be made through the vehicles presented by Beka-Avintia Inmobiliaria and DWS, two complementary projects that give strategic impetus to new housing solutions with a high social impact. 

The Beka-Avintia Inmobiliaria fund, where the ICO will invest up to 92 million euros, brings the innovative ávida system of industrialised construction developed by the Grupo Avintia into the social and affordable housing sector, a model that allows for efficiency gains in terms of time, costs and sustainability, helping to scale up housing production in response to growing demand. It is estimated that the fund will be able to mobilise financing for the construction of around 3,000 houses.

For its part, the DWS vehicle represents the entry into the Spanish market of an international asset manager with consolidated experience in other European countries in the field of affordable housing. ICO will invest up to 76 million euros in its project, which will build between 1,500 and 2,000 homes. The incorporation of DWS reinforces the diversity of the investor ecosystem and brings proven and professionalised management models from other EU countries to Spain.

These first two approvals, under the "ICO InvestEU Social Fund" call, mark the beginning of a process that will continue in the coming months. 

ICO launched this call to select funds/vehicles specialised in promoting social and affordable rental housing projects, where it can make investments with 50% backing through the InvestEU programme guarantee. In total, nine funds have submitted proposals in this round.

The successful funds undertake to raise funds from private investors, at least matching the amount provided by ICO and under the same conditions.

Extension of the call for proposals

The European Commission initially allocated EUR 134 million in guarantees from the Invest EU programme for this ICO initiative. However, given the high turnout, the Commission has taken a positive view of the request made by the Institute to increase the amount allocated.

This increase will allow the scope of the call to be extended and ICO to present the rest of the proposals received to the InvestEU Investment Committee for approval from September onwards, reaching a total investment of 500 million euros, half of which is guaranteed by the Invest EU programme.

ICO is working closely with the European Commission and fund managers to speed up the approval schedule as much as possible and facilitate project deployment and execution, which would promote the construction and management of 17,000 affordable rental homes. 


Public-private partnerships

With this initiative, ICO reaffirms its commitment to providing financing solutions with a social impact and promoting new public-private partnership instruments, in line with the European goal of territorial cohesion and access to decent housing.

The objective of this investment scheme is to generate a strong public-private partnership ecosystem in the field of social and affordable rental housing, inspired by the best practices of Project Finance. 

This approach, already well established in sectors such as transport, energy and the water cycle, is now being transferred to the residential sector with the aim of mobilising public and private capital efficiently with a long-term vision. 

The model fosters professionalised financing structures that enable a more efficient allocation of resources, while ensuring compliance with the requirements of national and regional social housing legislation, and reinforcing the role of institutional capital in the provision of affordable housing solutions.