The Basque government (Gobierno Vasco) has reached an agreement with Testa Homes, a subsidiary of Blackstone, to purchase 510 homes in the Donostia district of Benta Berri . The transaction is intended to prevent the subsidised homes from losing their protected status at the end of 2028 and entering the open market. According to the government, the investment amounts to just under €100 million, equivalent to around 15 per cent of the budget allocated to the housing department for 2026.
The development in question dates from the 1990s and was built under the regulations for subsidised housing in force until 2003. Following several changes of ownership—first Metrovacesa and Vallehermoso, then Merlin—the portfolio eventually ended up with Testa Homes. The deal is considered one of the largest single transactions of its kind in Spain. About 1,700 people live in Benta Berri, and the homes are now to remain in the social rental sector.
Housing Minister Denis Itxaso (PSE-EE) justified the purchase by saying that building a comparable number of homes would cost the public sector a similar amount, but take considerably longer. The state should also step up as a buyer where subsidised housing stock loses its protected status, to prevent speculative price rises and displacement. The government announced contractual safeguards and checks to secure the homes’ continued use as social rented housing.
The agreement is part of further measures to strengthen public housing provision. In the summer, the Gobierno Vasco had already acquired around 100 homes from Kutxabank . At the same time, the department is advancing measures for strained housing markets, such as interventions in sales of subsidised homes. Itxaso had also announced plans to designate the buyer in selected transactions to prevent excessive prices.
The political debate remains open, however. Critics argue that individual purchases do not address structural shortages and call for faster construction of homes with permanently controlled rents. The regional government counters that the public sector must both safeguard existing housing stock and increase new construction to deliver stability in the short term and additional capacity in the medium term. Legal and financial details of the Benta Berri deal are to be published in the coming weeks and discussed in parliament.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).