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Development Manager, Ignacio Alfaro Tercero has worked from GRE Assets’ Madrid office since 2018.

With 10 years of experience in architecture studios, as well as large engineering and project management companies, Ignacio has worked across hotel, office and residential developments. This understanding of property and the Spanish housing market more specifically has set him up well in his role at GRE Assets.

 

In this interview, Ignacio details what his role as Development Manager involves and shares his insights into the Spanish property market.

 

What is your role at GRE Assets and what projects are you currently working on?

 

My main role at GRE Assets is to expand into the residential property market in Spain. Since I joined the team two and a half years ago, I have dedicated myself to investigating the strategic locations of new investment opportunities, feasibility studies and ensuring a constant cash flow. I also manage developments to ensure they are delivered on time and budget.

 

Most recently, I have been working closely with our teams in Barcelona and Oxford on the Brises Diagonal Mar project, which will be delivered in the coming weeks. We are also exploring a series of investment opportunities to expand further into new areas in Spain. The reason for this being that we have detected a significant lack of high-quality, energy efficient, new-build rental apartments for young professionals and families in the main Spanish cities.

 

What do you think the Spanish property market offers investors?

 

The Spanish real estate market has always been very active, contributing to a significant part of the country’s GDP, above the average for Europe. Spain has also previously had one of the highest rates of home ownership, but this trend is currently changing to balance with rental properties, in line with the other European countries.

 

At GRE Assets, we have responded to this trend and are pioneers in bringing new, high-quality homes in strategic locations to the market. In doing this we have created communities of families and built long-term relationships with residents. This translates into very attractive returns for our investors.

 

What do you think 2021 holds for the Spanish property market?

 

As I have mentioned, the Spanish market is very dynamic and lends itself to build to rent investors. House prices have been growing at a much faster rate than people’s salaries, making rental housing a more appealing option. This opens a very exciting investment window for us, as it means property developers like GRE Assets must respond to this demand with new build apartments available for rent.

 

GRE Assets is a property investment company with major residential schemes in the UK and Spain.