Civitas Social Housing PLC Response to RSH (9541B)

TIDMCSH

RNS Number : 9541B

Civitas Social Housing PLC

13 October 2020

13 October 2020

CIVITAS SOCIAL HOUSING PLC

("Civitas" or the "Company")

Re: RSH - Reactive Engagement Notifications

The Board of Civitas Social Housing PLC, the leading care-based social housing REIT, ("CSH" or the "Company") notes the recent comments by the Regulator of Social Housing ("RSH" or the "Regulator") in respect of Westmoreland Supported Housing Limited ("Westmoreland") and Trinity Housing Association Limited ("Trinity") regarding the Rent Standard and the requirement to achieve full compliance with that standard.

The RSH has noted that they consider that at the present time Westmoreland and Trinity are not in conformity with the Rent Standard and that further information is required with the aim to achieve this.

The statement from the RSH is part of an ongoing programme of engagement with specialist housing associations to improve their standards of reporting and disclosure. CSH strongly supports the work the RSH is doing and is encouraged particularly by the significant progress which both Westmoreland and Trinity have made so far.

The rent levels of all properties in the portfolios of CSH's housing association counterparties are subject to regular scrutiny and analysis to determine that they are appropriate and set at a level that is reflective of the specialist accommodation being provided, and therefore are exempt from the Rent Standard as being Specialist Supported Housing.

CSH anticipates no change to the rental payments from these housing associations, and all rents remain fully up to date in accordance with their terms. On that basis it would not be expected to have any effect on the carrying value of those properties in terms of EPRA NAV. Westmoreland comprises 6.3% of CSH's portfolio and Trinity 5.5%.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Civitas Investment Management Limited

   Paul Bridge                                        Tel: [phone] 
   Andrew Dawber                                Tel: [phone] 

Panmure Gordon

   Sapna Shah                                         Tel: [phone] 
   Tom Scrivens                                       Tel: [phone] 

Liberum Capital Limited

   Gillian Martin / Chris Clarke              Tel: [phone] 

Buchanan

   Helen Tarbet / Henry Wilson             Tel: [phone] 
   Hannah Ratcliff / George Beale         [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. So far, CSH has completed more than 120 individual transactions to build the largest portfolio of its kind that has been independently valued at GBP885 million. CSH provides homes for 4,241 working age adults with long-term care needs, in 616 bespoke properties that are supported by 118 specialist care providers, 15 housing associations over 164 individual local authority areas. Most recently, CSH has extended its mandate to be able to work directly with the NHS and other leading care-based organisations.

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October 13, 2020 08:32 ET (12:32 GMT)