New Regulatory Clause - Update

RNS Number : 1851Z

Civitas Social Housing PLC

13 September 2022

 

13 September 2022

CIVITAS SOCIAL HOUSING PLC

("Civitas" or the "Company")

New Regulatory Clause - Update

Civitas Social Housing PLC ("Civitas" or the "Company"), the UK's leading care-based and healthcare REIT, is pleased to announce further progress in the implementation of the New Regulatory Clause (the "Clause") that was announced in the May Portfolio Update. The Clause is intended to assist housing associations to be better positioned to achieve regulatory compliance under the RSH's Governance and Financial Viability Standard.

The Clause has now, after detailed negotiation including legal input, received approval from the Boards of the two initial housing associations with whom it has been discussed.

Following this approval, the Clause is now being introduced to several specimen leases (not subject to borrowing) so that its impact can be incorporated into the long-term modelling that housing associations are required to prepare as part of their ongoing submissions to the Regulator of Social Housing ("RSH").

The Company has previously sought and obtained formal written confirmation from its valuers that the inclusion of a clause of this type within the Company's new and existing leases will not of itself cause a diminution in the value of those leases or in the underlying assets.

The Clause remains subject to approval by the Company's lenders and now that a settled form of the Clause has been agreed, this process will be commenced.

The scale and timing of any further roll out beyond the initial specimen leases will be determined by the way the sector responds to the introduction of the Clause that is now taking place and will be at the discretion of the Company.

Commenting on the progress achieved, Michael Wrobel, Chairman, Civitas Social Housing PLC, said:

"We are pleased to have reached agreement with the Boards of several of our housing association partners for the terms of the new clause. We share the same objective of regulatory compliance and continue to make an active contribution in this regard. We consider the Clause will be of benefit to the Company's stakeholders and to the sector overall."

Commenting on the Clause, Steve Fensom, CEO, Westmoreland Supported Housing, said:

"The Board of Westmoreland is actively engaged in driving forward both the quality and overall compliance of the services that we deliver. Considerable progress has been made in this regard particularly in addressing the past issues raised by the RSH. We consider that the implementation of the new Clause will assist further in our mission to achieve full regulatory compliance."

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Civitas Investment Management Limited
Andrew Dawber	Tel: [phone]
Paul Bridge	Tel: [phone]
Panmure Gordon
Sapna Shah	Tel: [phone]
Tom Scrivens	Tel: [phone]
Liberum Capital Limited
Chris Clarke / Darren Vickers / Owen Matthews	Tel: [phone]
Buchanan
Helen Tarbet / Henry Wilson	Tel: [phone]
Hannah Ratcliff / Verity Parker	[e-mail]

Notes:

Civitas Social Housing PLC (CSH) was created in 2016 by Civitas Investment Management Limited as the first dedicated London listed REIT to raise long-term, sustainable, institutional capital to invest in care-based social homes and healthcare facilities across the UK. CSH's portfolio has been independently valued at £968.8million (31 March 2022). CSH now provides homes for 4,594 working age adults with long-term care needs, in 697 bespoke properties that are supported by 130 specialist care providers, 18 approved providers and working with over 178 individual local authority partners.

 

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