Home REIT invests £48m in property portfolio expansion to house homeless people
Home Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), which funds the acquisition and development of accomodation for homeless people, has bought 11 property portfolios in a deal worth £48.1m.
The acquisition completes the full investment of the net proceeds of the firm’s £240m public listing in October last year.
Following the deal, Home REIT has added an extra 543 beds across 83 properties in England.
The accommodation will be let out on long-term leases for around £83 per week to registered homeless charities, funded by local and central government.
The REIT said the accommodation will be provided to women escaping domestic abuse, those facing homelessness due to poverty, people suffering drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues, prison leavers and ex-servicemen and women.
Home REIT, which now houses more than 3,000 people across 572 properties, has a diversified portfolio including 66 local authorities and 17 tenants.
The majority of its geographical exposure by asset value is in the South West, followed by the East Midlands, North East and West Midlands.
London accounts for 12 per cent of its exposure.
Home REIT has a £120m long-term debt facility which it expects to use to fund further acquisitions.
Jamie Beale, partner at Alvarium Home REIT Advisors, said: “We have an attractive pipeline of acquisitions that will enable us to continue to deliver a positive social impact for some of the most vulnerable members of society, through providing critically needed accommodation to those at risk of homelessness, let at low, sustainable rents to our tenant partners, who are proven to make a difference to the people they house, care for and support.”