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Social housing REIT exceeds £200m investment
The UK’s first listed social housing investor has invested more than £200m after acquiring two portfolios comprising 35 supported living properties in total.
Civitas Social Housing, a real estate investment trust (REIT), has invested £15.4m in 19 properties across Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the South West, as well as £22m in 16 properties all over the country. In total, these new acquisitions include 268 tenancies.
The properties are subject to leases with three housing associations: Inclusion Housing, Westmoreland Supported Housing Association and IKE Supported Housing.
Civitas says that the properties in question, all of which have been adapted for use as specialist supported living homes for tenants with physical and/or mental disabilities, will generate income immediately.
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Michael Wrobel, chair of Civitas, said: “While we continue to build the pipeline of quality investments that meet our investment criteria, it is pleasing to note that we have now passed the threshold for completed investments of £200m.
“With a diversified and broadly based portfolio we are extending our reach to many areas of the country and providing high quality social homes that support our underlying tenants.”
The deal forms part of Civitas’ continuing involvement with Inclusion, Westmoreland and IKE. In April of this year, it bought 10 of Inclusion’s care homes in the Midlands, and in January it bought 17 supported living properties managed by Westmoreland and IKE for £15m.
Westmoreland is a housing association with a focus on housing people with learning and physical disabilities, while IKE specialises in dealing with adults with learning difficulties and autism or autism spectrum disorder.
Civitas’ investments continue to grow swiftly – less than three months ago the REIT announced that it had exceeded £100m of investments. Thus far, it has focused on supported housing.
When it was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in November of last year, Civitas, which aims to provide investors with dividend yields of 5%, raised £350m.
Some experts have warned that, unless property regulated, housing associations could be drawn into risky and binding agreements due to a lack of funds available elsewhere.
