European real estate companies and investors must take on more responsibility for delivering what the public needs if they hope to see an end to the political unrest that has shaken the continent in recent years, leading figures from the sector told a conference in Madrid.
Speaking at the European Public Real Estate Association's annual conference in the Spanish capital, a panel of four CEOs from some of the largest listed real estate companies in Germany, France, Spain and the U.K. said that the continent needs massive investment in its infrastructure and building stock, and strong political vision and leadership to help deliver that.
Several of Europe's largest economies have been seriously disrupted by social and political unrest in recent years. The U.K.'s decision in 2016 to leave the European Union has sparked regular protests in the country and caused severe uncertainty throughout the continent. Widespread and often violent demonstrations by the "Yellow Vest" movement damaged towns and cities throughout France in 2018 and into 2019.
More recently, massive protests in several German cities in April led to Berlin moving to introduce radical rent controls on the city's residential landlords. Meanwhile, rising support for hard-left and far-right parties in several European countries, along with a 2017 attempt by Catalonia to declare independence from Spain, have also contributed to an air of political crisis in the region.
Rolf Buch, CEO of Vonovia SE, Germany's largest residential landlord and Europe's largest listed property company by market capitalization, said that the continent is facing "a grave situation."
"Europe has a lot of cheap money and it has a lot of investment need," he said. "The trouble is that there are so many needs: We have homes that need investment; we have buildings that need investment, environmental protection. The only question for me is, why are we not doing them? The money is there, the possibility is there, but nothing happens."
Buch added that the continent is lacking political leaders that can "transport a vision" of a better future to the public. "Populists are just saying what is wrong. What is missing is someone who is saying, 'This is Europe in 20 years and it's a bright Europe.'"
Still, just throwing money at the problem is not the solution, said Buch. "It's not the money, it's the managed money that matters," he said. He added that the real estate sector is "very important because we have the capabilities to invest ... the capability to manage."
![]() Mé To her right sits Pere Viñolas Serra, CEO of Inmobiliaria Colonial. To her left is Helen Gordon, CEO of Grainger, and Vonovia CEO Rolf Buch. Source: EPRA |
Méka Brunel, CEO of one of France's largest listed landlords, Gecina, which owns a portfolio of offices and residential assets, said that Europe and the wider world was living through "a real revolution." People's lives and their communities are being permanently altered by globalization and urbanization, technology, and climate change, she said.
"With these three global trends, whatever happens, we need to be much more concerned with a long-term vision," said Brunel. "We can't change every single day as politicians change their mind and do something different depending on what kind of tweet they have sent overnight," adding that Europe needs a political "visionary."
Brunel called on business leaders to be "part of the solution," rather than merely criticizing political leaders. She also supported Buch's call for significant public investment programs across the continent to deliver the infrastructure that would improve the public's lives.
"At some point, you need to be more inclusive, to redesign, to reallocate, and to consider taking advantage of low interest rates to invest more on a long-term basis," she said.
The real estate sector must also meet the challenge of the massive demographic changes happening across the continent, according to Helen Gordon, CEO of U.K.-based residential landlord Grainger PLC. "The aging population means a lot if you're an investment manager thinking about investing people's pensions, but if you're an operations manager, the issue of how you serve that population in a digital world can be quite different," she said. "But that also presents opportunities."
Gordon also warned property companies that it was no longer acceptable to have a purely asset-focused outlook. "If you're thinking about a building and not thinking about the environment in which it sits and the town in which it sits, then you're not doing your job," she said.
Pere Viñolas Serra, CEO of Inmobiliaria Colonial SOCIMI SA, which has a portfolio predominantly comprising offices in Spain and France, said that the political unrest across Europe was creating a lot of unpredictability for businesses, causing them to take a defensive stance.
Still, adopting a positive approach to environmental, social and governance issues is the only way businesses can hope to bring about change, he said. "ESG is not just [about] beautiful words, it's the way in which companies have to answer this [political unrest]. [ESG]'s in its infancy and probably many mistakes are taking place as of now. But it's the way to answer that."

