Acquisition Update & New 12-yr £120M debt facility

RNS Number : 4670I

Home REIT PLC

14 December 2020

 

14 December 2020

HOME REIT plc

("Home REIT" or the "Company")

ACQUISITION & PORTFOLIO UPDATE - NEARLY 50% OF IPO PROCEEDS DEPLOYED

NEW 12-YEAR TERM £120 MILLION DEBT FACILITY AGREED

The Board of Home REIT plc (ticker: HOME), the specialist REIT which funds the acquisition and creation of high-quality properties across the UK that are dedicated to providing accommodation to the homeless, is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired a further twelve separate portfolios of properties located across England (the "Properties") for an aggregate purchase price of £64.3 million (including acquisition costs). This takes the total capital deployed by the Company since IPO to £115 million, representing just under 50 per cent. of the net IPO proceeds. The Board is also pleased to announce that Home REIT has finalised a £120 million interest-only debt facility with Scottish Widows.

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

"Since listing in October, we are pleased to have carefully deployed nearly 50 per cent. of Home REIT's IPO proceeds through the purchase to date of £115 million of high-quality accommodation, providing homes to approximately 1,700 vulnerable, homeless people. Our portfolio of assets addresses a critical need within local communities and is 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. All the rent payable by our tenants is funded by support from local and central government.

We are also pleased to have secured the 12-year £120 million debt facility , which provides Home REIT with a long-dated senior financing package at a very low fixed rate whilst offering the Company substantial flexibility in making future acquisitions, underlining the support for our strategy and strong sector fundamentals."

The Properties

The Properties will provide new, high quality accommodation for vulnerable, homeless people in need of housing, delivering critical solutions for women fleeing domestic abuse, prison leavers, those faced with homelessness due to poverty, and vulnerable people at risk of homelessness.

The Properties are let at a low and sustainable rental level, on new, unbroken, long term, full repairing and insuring leases to six different specialist registered homeless charities and two housing associations, providing them with long term security of tenure. The charities and housing associations, regulated by the Charities Commission and Regulator of Social Housing, respectively, will provide specialist care, training, support and rehabilitation to the vulnerable homeless people at the Properties.

The rents received under these leases are subject to annual upward-only rent reviews, index-linked to the Consumer Prices Index, subject to an annual collar and cap of 1 per cent. and 4 per cent., respectively.

Each of the Properties is immediately income producing and the blended net initial yield of the Properties is ahead of the Company's target level.

New debt facility

This new £120 million interest-only debt facility with Scottish Widows has been secured on a 12-year term with a low fixed all-in rate payable of under 2.1 per cent. per annum for the duration of the facility. When the facility is drawn, this competitive rate will be highly accretive to the Company's average net initial property yield, whilst mitigating potential interest rate risk for the 12-year period. The Company is targeting a conservative level of gearing, with a maximum level of aggregate borrowings of 35 per cent. of the Company's gross assets at the time of drawdown of the relevant borrowings.

Pipeline

The Company is in advanced legals on a significant pipeline of further assets to allow for the efficient deployment of both its remaining IPO proceeds (c. £118 million) and its debt facility (£120 million), in-line with expectations. These further acquisitions will enhance tenant and geographic diversification, and the Company looks forward to updating investors on the deployment of this capital in due course.

Portfolio Update

· High quality accommodation for vulnerable, homeless people, providing critical housing solutions for women 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-servicemen.

· Low and sustainable average weekly rents of £78 per person per week.

· Housing c. 1,700 people in over 315 properties.

· Following the acquisition of the Properties, the Company's portfolio is diversified across 36 different local authorities and 11 tenants, with the following geographical exposures:

o  East of England : 9.8%

o  London: 7.6%

o  North West: 21.3%

o  West Midlands: 11.0%

o  Yorkshire and the Humber: 9.1%

o  East Midlands: 13.8%

o  North East: 27.5%

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Alvarium Home REIT Advisors Limited Jamie Beale / Gareth Jones	Via Maitland/AMO below
Alvarium Securities Limited Mark Thompson Eddie Nissen Oliver Kenyon James Pond Ben Nott	Tel: [phone] [phone] [phone] [phone] [phone]
Maitland/AMO (Communications adviser) James Benjamin / Rhys Jones	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

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 will be dedicated to providing accommodation to the homeless. The accommodation assets will be 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 the homeless and which receive housing benefit or comparable support from local or central government to fund the provision of such accommodation to the homeless.

There is a critical need for further accommodation for the homeless 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 the homeless 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 individuals 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 the homeless 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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