Housing REIT’s for-profit provider wins access to Homes England grant funding

News19 Mar 2020Luke Cross

For-profit provider ReSI Housing has been awarded “investment partner” status by government funding agency Homes England, making it eligible to access capital grant funding.

Picture: Getty

Sharelines

Housing REIT’s for-profit provider wins access to Homes England grant funding #ukhousing #socialhousingfinance

For-profit provider ReSI Housing has been awarded “investment partner” status by government funding agency Homes England #ukhousing #socialhousingfinance

ReSI Housing is the registered provider subsidiary of Residential Secure Income, a housing real estate investment trust (REIT) that launched in 2017 via a stock market float and has since acquired a portfolio of shared ownership, retirement and local authority housing.

It has already achieved investment partner status with the Greater London Authority, which administers grant funding in the capital, and has taken £6m in grant to fund its shared ownership acquisitions.

The accreditation with Homes England – which administers funding across the rest of the country – allows ReSI to access the agency’s £4.7bn Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme (SOAHP) 2016/21.

Other for-profit providers are already eligible for grant funding under the programme. Shared ownership specialist Heylo received one of the highest levels of grant funding under the SOAHP, taking £64.7m to support 2,059 affordable homeownership properties.

Alex Pilato, chief executive of ReSI Capital Management, which runs the day-to-day business of the REIT, said: “Achieving investment partner status from Homes England allows ReSI to help them bring forward much-needed new affordable housing right across the UK, working with national house builders in allocating funds efficiently.”

ReSI reported £13.2m in pre-tax profit for the 12 months to 30 September 2019 and £8.6m in dividend payments to shareholders.

The REIT and its parent company TradeRisks were recently acquired by asset manager Gresham House.

Mr Pilato told Social Housing earlier this month that plans include launching new investment vehicles backed by local government pension funds.

ReSI has around £320m of assets under management, amounting to around 2,700 units including more than 2,200 retirement homes, along with a smaller number of shared ownership and temporary accommodation units.

Its investments have included a £60m deal to buy 132 new build properties in London from housing association Metropolitan Thames Valley. The homes on Metropolitan Thames Valley’s flagship regeneration scheme in Clapham were originally earmarked for outright sale but converted for shared ownership through the deal.