Residential Secure Income PLC 85 new build homes acquired for shared ownership (8551J)

TIDMRESI

RNS Number : 8551J

Residential Secure Income PLC

24 December 2020

24 December 2020

Residential Secure Income plc

Acquisition of 85 new build homes for shared ownership

Homes acquired from Brick By Brick, the development company set up by Croydon Council

Residential Secure Income plc ("ReSI") (LSE: RESI), which invests in affordable shared ownership, retirement and local authority housing, has exchanged contracts for GBP29 million to acquire up to 85 newly completed homes for delivery as shared ownership. The properties are being acquired from Brick By Brick, the housing development company set up to deliver a large programme of high quality and affordable homes for local people across the London Borough of Croydon.

The transaction will allow Brick By Brick to offer these homes as shared ownership, accelerating the delivery of much-needed affordable homes and returning the proceeds of the sale to the London Borough of Croydon to be spent on frontline services. The homes will be held by ReSI's wholly owned registered provider of social housing, ReSI Housing, and part financed by government grant.

The acquisitions will be completed in a staggered manner to align with when purchasers are ready to occupy the properties. This is expected to happen rapidly, as 90% of Brick By Brick's available homes for sale are already reserved.

The portfolio consists of one, two and three-bedroom apartments in new developments in Upper Norwood, Thornton Heath and South Croydon in South London, designed by outstanding architects, including RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Mikhail Riches. The homes have been developed to a high specification, with timber parquet flooring, Silestone worktops, Bosch appliances and private balconies. The homes meet or exceed ReSI's sustainability criteria and include secure cycle storage, solar energy, electric vehicle charging points, and have an energy efficiency Environmental Performance Certificate rating of B or higher.

Shared ownership allows a purchaser to buy a property with a lower deposit requirement and lower annual costs, making the apartments more affordable and allowing local individuals and families to get onto the housing ladder. The homes will follow ReSI's best practice approach, as set out in its shared ownership customer and environmental charters and will be available starting at 25% shared owner stakes on 250-year shared ownership leases.

The deal brings ReSI's total shared ownership portfolio to 281 homes and will be funded through the GBP300m 45-year debt facility ReSI put in place in July. Upon occupation, each home will be fully income generating, with an expected inflation-linked leveraged yield which supports ReSI's 8% total return and c. 5% dividend targets. Assuming that the shared owners each acquire approximately 25% of their asset from ReSI on occupation, the acquisition commits more than half of the GBP32m capital still required to reach ReSI's target 50% leverage.

Earlier this month, ReSI reported resilient rent collection, at more than 99% for the year to September. This is in line with normal performance and was unchanged through the Covid-19 pandemic, supporting virtually flat investment valuations for the year. ReSI's recent shared ownership deals include the July 2020 purchase of the final 73 apartments at Clapham Park, London, from Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, and 39 houses from Step Forward, in Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, also in July.

Ben Fry, investment manager of ReSI Capital Management and head of housing at Gresham House, said:

"We are delighted to help Brick By Brick increase its delivery of affordable homes, while generating a return for the London Borough of Croydon. These homes exemplify the sort of high-quality assets we seek, delivering value and housing security to first-time homeowners, and meeting the pressing housing needs of London and the rest of the UK. We see this as the start of a long-term partnership with Brick By Brick to facilitate its delivery of much needed affordable homes.

"This investment further diversifies our portfolio and is a key step to reaching full dividend cover by the beginning of October 2021. We look forward to updating shareholders on further progress in 2021."

Colm Lacey, Chief Executive at Brick By Brick added:

"Brick By Brick's partnership with ReSI will help us to realise the delivery of high-quality and affordable housing in Croydon and accelerate the returns we provide to our shareholder Croydon Council. ReSI's approach means we are transacting with a registered provider of social housing that delivers best-in-class shared ownership and provides long-term housing security for Croydon's residents."

ENDS

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

 
  ReSI Capital Management Limited / Gresham 
   House Housing 
   Ben Fry 
   Alex Pilato                                  [phone] 
  Jefferies International Limited 
   Stuart Klein 
   Tom Yeadon                                     [phone] 
  KL Communications                             [e-mail] 
   Charles Gorman                                [phone] 
   Camilla Esmund 
   Alex Hogan 
 

Notes to Editors

Residential Secure Income plc (LSE: RESI)

ReSI is a real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the premium segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange with the objective of delivering secure inflation linked returns by investing in affordable shared ownership, retirement and local authority housing throughout the UK.

ReSI targets a secure, long-dated, inflation-linked dividend of 5.0 pence per share p.a. (paid quarterly) and a total return in excess of 8.0% per annum. Including recent committed acquisitions, ReSI's portfolio comprises 2,802 properties, with an (unaudited) IFRS fair value of GBP322m.

ReSI aims to make a meaningful contribution to alleviating the UK housing shortage by meeting demand from housing developers (Housing Associations, Local Authorities and private developers) for long-term investment partners to accelerate the development of socially and economically beneficial new affordable housing. ReSI's subsidiary, ReSI Housing Limited, is registered as a for-profit Registered Provider of Social Housing, and so provides a unique proposition to its housing developer partners, being a long-term private sector landlord within the social housing regulatory environment. As a Registered Provider, ReSI Housing can acquire affordable housing subject to s106 planning restrictions and housing funded by government grant.

Acquisitions by ReSI are limited to homes with sufficient cashflows, counterparty credit quality and property security to be capable of supporting long--term investment grade equivalent debt. ReSI does not manage or operate stock and uses experienced and credit-worthy third-party managers.

ReSI is managed by ReSI Capital Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TradeRisks Limited which has a 19-year track record of executing transactions within the UK social housing sector and, to date, has arranged funding of over GBP11 billion in the social housing, care and other specialist residential property sectors.

TradeRisks Limited and ReSI Capital Management Limited were acquired on 4 March 2020 by Gresham House.

About Gresham House plc

Gresham House is a specialist alternative asset management group, dedicated to sustainable investments across a range of strategies, with expertise across forestry, housing, infrastructure, renewable energy and battery storage, public and private equity.

Our origins stretch back to 1857, while our focus is on the future and the long term. Quoted on the London Stock Exchange (GHE:LN) we actively manage c.GBP3.3bn of assets on behalf of institutions, family offices, charities and endowments, private individuals and their advisers. We act responsibly within a culture of empowerment that encourages individual flair and entrepreneurial thinking.

As a signatory to the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), our vision is to always make a positive social or environmental impact, while delivering on our commitments to shareholders, employees and investors.

Further information on ReSI is available at www.resi-reit.com , and further information on Gresham House is

available at   www.greshamhouse.com 

About Brick By Brick

Brick By Brick is a development company which was set up by Croydon Council in 2016. It was established to increase the pace and quality of supply of new and affordable homes in Croydon by delivering high quality new homes across the borough. Brick By Brick is a means to ensure people in Croydon have access to high quality and affordable housing. Their development model, as opposed to the more traditional housebuilder model, means that the full value of development is kept within the borough for the benefit of borough residents.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

ACQBBBDDGSDDGGS

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 24, 2020 06:41 ET (11:41 GMT)