Home REIT, the real estate investment trust providing accommodation to homeless people, has paid £85.1 million for 199 properties located across England.
These acquisitions were funded by the net proceeds raised via the company’s oversubscribed £263 million equity issue in May 2022.
The company has now deployed a total of £170 million (66 per cent.) of the proceeds of the subsequent placing, including the tranche of acquisitions announced on 4 July 2022.
The properties have added a further 869 beds for those in need to the portfolio, bringing the portfolio total to 10,421 and further enhancing the company’s geographic diversification.
The acquisitions adhered to the company’s strict investment criteria, providing much needed accommodation for vulnerable homeless people across England.
They are let on an average lease length of 25 years at low and sustainable rents, on new, unbroken, long term, full repairing and insuring leases to specialist registered homeless charities and community interest companies (CICs), providing them with sought-after long-term security of tenure. The leases are subject to annual upward-only rent reviews, index-linked to the Consumer Prices Index, with an annual collar and cap of 1 per cent. and 4 per cent. respectively.
Charlotte Fletcher, Partner at Alvarium Home REIT Advisors Limited, said: “This latest tranche of acquisitions represents a significant expansion of our portfolio and allows us to scale up our support for homeless people across the UK. The expeditious deployment of the proceeds of our significantly oversubscribed Subsequent Placing in May demonstrates the Company’s impressive capacity to source attractive investment opportunities and the strength of our relationships with local stakeholders.”