Barings Signs Agreement to Deliver 188 Affordable Rental Units in Valdebebas, Madrid

Barings, one of the world's leading alternative investment managers, has agreed a forward commitment with Grupo Ferrocarril, a Spanish developer and manager specialising in affordable homes, on a turnkey agreement for the development of 188 Build-to-Rent (BtR) affordable housing units in Valdebebas, Madrid. The total investment is expected to exceed €56 million.

Under the agreement, Grupo Ferrocarril will undertake the end-to-end development of the project, including architectural design, technical management, and urban planning through to construction. Upon completion, Barings will acquire the asset and integrate it into its European living portfolio, assuming long-term management of the scheme. Construction is scheduled to commence in Q1 2027, with completion targeted for 2029.

The development will be situated in Valdebebas, one of Madrid's key urban growth areas, and will comprise 188 one, two, and three-bedroom homes. The scheme will span approximately 19,000 sqm of buildable land and will include parking spaces, storage rooms, a swimming pool, and communal gardens. The building will feature strong sustainability credentials, with the project targeting the BREEAM 'Very Good' certification.

This transaction builds on Barings' recent living activity in Barcelona and Madrid, including the forward commitment to 305 affordable BtR homes in Los Cerros, Madrid, in partnership with Aurora Homes, further strengthening its living portfolio in the Spanish capital.

This acquisition underscores Barings' continued conviction in the Spanish living sector, where supply-demand imbalances in rental housing remain acute, and reflects the firm's growing exposure to residential strategies in Spain, following activity across build-to-sell, PBSA, and flex living.

Last year, Barings Real Estate transacted €310 million in the Iberian market across core-to-value-add strategies, spanning the living sector as well as logistics, office, and retail.

This transaction forms part of the firm's ongoing commitment to the living sector across Europe, with €512 million already signed or under exclusivity in 2026, following €580 million deployed in 2025.

José Carlos Torres, Managing Director, Country Head Iberia at Barings Real Estate, said: "Following a record year for Barings Real Estate in Iberia, with strong transaction volumes across our core sectors, this investment in Valdebebas demonstrates our ability to continue sourcing and executing high-quality opportunities in a challenging market environment. We remain committed to disciplined capital deployment as we grow our residential exposure and deliver attractive long-term returns."

Gunther Deutsch, Managing Director, Head of European Real Estate Transactions at Barings, said: "Spain, the Nordics, Italy, and Germany continue to offer compelling opportunities this year within the BtR and BtS living sector, supported by strong fundamentals and a pronounced structural undersupply of quality rental housing. We would like to expand our pipeline with further transactions across the risk spectrum from core-to-value-add, as well as through forward transactions or developer JVs."

For Barings
Ben Monteith / Charlotte Coulson (SEC Newgate)
[email protected]

Barings Real Estate
Barings Real Estate (BRE) is a part of Barings and offers a broad range of global investment opportunities across the private debt and equity investment markets. BRE invests in all major property sectors and offers an expansive range of financing solutions to real estate borrowers. Follow us on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/showcase/barings-alternative-investments.

About Barings
Barings is a $481 billion* global alternative asset manager that partners with institutional, insurance, and wealth clients, and supports leading businesses with flexible financing solutions. The firm, which is owned by insurance companies MassMutual and MS&AD, seeks to deliver excess returns by leveraging its global scale and capabilities across credit, real assets, capital solutions and emerging markets.

*As of March 31, 2026

• Share on Twitter
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share via Email