Home REIT has sold a further batch of properties at half the price it paid for them.
On 2 November the troubled REIT sold 14 properties at auction for just under £9m. It paid more than £17m for them. A further 16 disposals were made during October, and another nine on 1 November, with more expected at two auctions later this week.
The REIT has increased rent collection over the past month from a record low of 3%, but it still only received 18% of the total due.
While its annual rent roll stands at £50m, the REIT collected just £700,000 in October.
Its asset manager, AEW, said tenants refusing to pay would forfeit their leases. “For those tenants that do not engage constructively and continue to withhold payment, AEW is assessing all strategies available to the company, which has included serving statutory demands and section 146 notice of forfeiture on selected tenants,” it said.
Home REIT’s shares have been suspended since January after BDO refused to sign off and publish its accounts. This followed the publication of revelations by short-seller Viceroy that it had overpaid for assets, and that many of its tenants had very poor covenants, with some having only been set up within days of taking the properties.
AEW and Home REIT have now agreed revised accountancy policies, which have been presented to BDO. The resulting adjustments will involve restatement of the 2021 accounts and will be applied to the 2022 and 2023 accounts.
The board expects publication of the outstanding accounts in early 2024.
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