NET PROCEEDS OF £350M EQUITY ISSUE FULLY DEPLOYED

RNS Number : 4498Z

Home REIT PLC

25 January 2022

 

25 January 2022

Home REIT plc

("Home REIT" or the "Company")

NET PROCEEDS OF SEPTEMBER'S £350M EQUITY ISSUE FULLY DEPLOYED

Home REIT plc (ticker: HOME), which funds the acquisition and creation of high-quality properties across the UK that are dedicated to providing accommodation to homeless people, announces that it has deployed the remaining £55.1 million of the proceeds raised in the Company's significantly oversubscribed £350 million equity issue in September 2021 (the "Initial Issue").

The Company has acquired 240 additional properties (the "Properties") for an aggregate purchase price of £55.1 million (including acquisition costs). Following the latest tranche of investments, the entire £343 million net proceeds of the Initial Issue has now been deployed at a weighted average net initial yield of 5.9 per cent., ahead of the Company's pipeline forecast as disclosed during the Initial Issue and in-line with the Company's strict investment criteria, providing much needed accommodation for vulnerable homeless people across England and Wales. 

The Properties are located across England, providing 880 beds for those in need, whilst bringing the portfolio total to 7,953 and further enhancing its geographic diversification. They are let on an average lease length of 25 years at low and sustainable rents, on new, unbroken, full repairing and insuring leases to 10 different specialist registered homeless charities, which each meet the Company's operational and financial criteria.

As is the Company's purpose, the Properties provide these charities with sought-after long-term security of tenure and therefore much needed stability for their residents, supporting their reintegration into society. 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. The Company's offer provides significant savings to charities and local authorities versus more expensive alternative accommodation, such as B&Bs, which are short-term and inadequate for the needs of vulnerable homeless people.

Each of the Properties is immediately income producing and, following these transactions, the blended net initial yield of the Company's portfolio is ahead of expectations.

Jamie Beale, Partner at Alvarium Home REIT Advisors Limited, said:

"Having fully deployed the net proceeds of the Initial Issue in a short period of just over three months, we are very pleased to have met the targets we set ourselves at the time. Our portfolio of nearly eight thousand beds contributes to combating the endemic challenge of homelessness in the UK by offering stable and supportive environments to some of the most vulnerable people in society. We continue to maintain a strong pipeline of opportunities that meet the requirements of our distinct strategy and look forward to updating our investors shortly regarding the deployment of the Company's debt facility."

The Company's combined portfolio to date

·High quality, much needed accommodation for vulnerable, homeless people, providing critical housing solutions for people fleeing from domestic abuse, those faced with homelessness due to poverty, people suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues, prison leavers and ex-armed forces.

· Low and sustainable rents across the portfolio, providing significant savings to local authorities compared to less suitable alternative accommodation.

·Let to registered charities, housing associations, community interest companies and other regulated organisations, which have a proven operating track record in providing low-cost accommodation to homeless people and a focus on care, support, training and rehabilitation to provide them with the skills and confidence to find long-term accommodation and enable them to reintegrate into society.

· All the rent payable by Home REIT's tenants is funded by support from local and central government.

· Providing 7,953 beds across 1,580 properties.

· Following the acquisition of the Properties, the Company's portfolio is further diversified across 111 different local authorities and 26 tenants, with the following geographical exposures (by asset value):

o London: 17.0%

o Yorkshire and the Humber: 13.8%

o East Midlands: 13.0%

o North West: 12.8%

o North East: 12.4%

o South West: 10.0%

o West Midlands: 7.8%

o South East: 6.8%

o East: 5.2%

o Wales: 1.2%

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Alvarium Home REIT Advisors Limited Jamie Beale Gareth Jones	Via FTI Consulting below
Alvarium Securities Limited Mark Thompson Eddie Nissen Oliver Kenyon		[phone] [phone] [phone]
FTI Consulting (Communications Adviser) Claire Turvey Eve Kirmatzis Ellie Perham-Marchant Oliver Harrison	[e-mail] [phone]

The Company's LEI is: 213800A53AOVH3FCGG44.

For more information, please visit the Company's website: www.homereituk.com

About Home REIT plc

Home REIT plc seeks to contribute to the alleviation of homelessness in the UK, whilst targeting inflation-protected income and capital returns, by funding the acquisition and creation of a diversified portfolio of high-quality accommodation assets across the UK which are dedicated to providing accommodation to homeless people. The accommodation assets are let or pre-let on very long (typically 20 to 30 years) leases, containing inflation-linked or fixed uplift rent review provisions, to registered charities, housing associations, community interest companies and other regulated organisations which have a proven operating track record in providing low-cost accommodation to homeless people and which receive housing benefit or comparable support from local or central government to fund the provision of such accommodation to homeless people.

There is a critical need for further accommodation for homeless people in the UK, due to an increasing homeless population and a lack of available and affordable high-quality, fit-for-purpose stock to address the problem. Local housing authorities are under a statutory duty to secure accommodation for individuals who are unintentionally homeless and in priority need but current accommodation for homeless people is limited in quantum and often sub-standard and uneconomical.

The Company focuses on investing in and creating well-located properties that provide a sustainable level of rent for the tenant. Within the homeless accommodation assets, there is a focus on care, support, training and rehabilitation to provide vulnerable homeless people with the skills and confidence to find long-term accommodation and enable them to reintegrate back into society. Savings are expected to be made to local authorities and other providers of accommodation to homeless people via lower rents versus more expensive alternative accommodation.

The Company is listed on the premium segment of the Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and its Ordinary Shares were admitted to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, premium segment, on 12 October 2020.

 

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