CDP Real Asset SGR, controlled by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, has signed a agreement with the European Investment Fund (FEI, EIB Group) in the real estate sector.
The agreement provides for the allocation of 300 million euro for social housing programs in Italy. The initiative aims to promote urban regeneration and social inclusion through real estate interventions.
First national building program
The agreement represents the first national program promoted by the European Investment Fund (EIF) dedicated to social housing in Europe. It is based on a path of co-investment between the EIF and the National Social Housing Fund (FNAS), managed by CDP Real Asset SGR.
Il FNAS is a fund of funds created to expand the operations of the CDP Group along the entire life cycle of social housing, including the categories of accommodation for social housing, students and the elderly (the "3 ESSE").
10 thousand new beds for students
In the first phase of investments of the National Social Housing Fund (FNAS), the main objectives include support for creation of approximately 10.000 new student beds, focusing above all on the needs of "Offsite" in the main university cities.
Furthermore, we aim to implement housing solutions aimed at self-sufficient elderly people, with a particular attention to ESG principles (Environmental, Social and Governance).
Dual role for the EIF
The European Investment Fund will take on a dual function towards the National Social Housing Fund. Initially, it will act as consultant to identify and evaluate investment opportunities. Subsequently, it will become even co-investor in the identified funds, committing a total of up to 300 million euros to Italian social housing. A sum that will be divided equally between FEI and FNAS.
“Partnerships like the one signed with CDP, the first national program entirely dedicated to social housing supported by the EIF in Europe, are fundamental to giving families and students the opportunity to have access to adequate and sustainable housing,” he commented Jasmine Vigliotti, FEI President and Vice President AT. “This agreement further strengthens thejoint commitment of the EIB Group and CDP Group for the social sector, after the agreement recently signed for the construction of 200 social housing units in the heart of Milan and the 100 million euro 'Social Impact Italia' programme, launched in 2017 and now fully invested".
“With this new operation – he declared Dario Scannapieco, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti – the CDP Group once again confirms its opinion pioneering role in the use of the tools and funds made available by the European Union. Thanks to the consolidated relationship with the EIF we have the possibility of making 300 million available to the country to be allocated to the creation of housing solutions with a strong social connotation, including residences for students, creating a program of interventions that will have a positive impact on the territory and local communities".
“This agreement is a fundamental stage in the implementation path of our 2022-2024 Industrial Plan, which identifies a distinctive element in the ability to attract and combine the resources of national and supranational investors, confirming our additional and complementary role with respect to the market,” he commented Giancarlo Scotti, CEO of CDP Real Asset SGR. “Having a partner like the EIF at our side confirms the recognition, even at a European level, of the relevance of the system of our social housing funds as a tool to combat housing hardship through urban regeneration and social inclusion. It is a'evolution of our model of intervention which, started in collaboration with foundations of banking origin, has progressively involved national institutional investors and is now opening up to the market of community resources to face the challenges linked to new socio-demographic needs".
