A homelessness charity has gone into administration after a long-running standoff with its property fund landlord in which it refused to pay rent over the condition of its properties, some of which had black mold and leaking ceilings.
Home Reit, a London-listed real estate investment trust, has been at loggerheads for more than a year with the Noble Tree Foundation, which is a tenant of 143 properties in its portfolio following complaints about repairs to the properties.
Home Reit, whose shares were suspended last year, said in a stock exchange statement that the Noble Tree Foundation, which represents 7% of the rent demanded in April, had gone into administration and was not paying rent.
The charity had held a few months’ rent from Home Reit and last year claimed to the Guardian that it was owed millions of pounds for repairs and insurance that were not forthcoming. The charity said some properties were “unfit for people to live in” and issues included black mold and leaking ceilings.
The Charity Commission launched a legal investigation into Noble Tree last October into alleged conflicts of interest and related party transactions.
Noble Tree has been contacted for comment.
Home Reit was set up in 2020 as a property fund dealing with homelessness and had ambitions to grow into a £1 billion business and take 10,000 people off the street. It had 1,920 properties let to registered charities and housing associations for between 20 and 30 years at the end of April.
Homes rented by Noble Tree are let to private sector tenants and, after the charity rents are handed over, the rents will be transferred to Home Reit so it can collect income from the properties.
The company said it was working closely with Noble Tree’s appointed administrator, CBW Recovery, to arrange the surrender of the charity’s leases and the surrender of its tenants. The company said residents of the properties will not be affected.
Home Reit said it would either re-let the properties to a social housing provider or appoint a property manager, who would be responsible for day-to-day management and rent collection.
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In May, Home Reit said it had agreed with another tenant, Big Help, to hand over its leases on more than 600 properties the Liverpool-based charity leased, equating to around 30% of its portfolio. the company according to the number of properties. These lease deliveries ended on May 28.
In a separate development, Vistry Group, one of Britain’s largest housebuilders formerly known as Bovis Homes, is to sell a portfolio of 1,750 new homes to private equity firms Blackstone Real Estate and Regis Group in a £580m deal. The portfolio will be managed by private rental housing firm Leaf Living, which is backed by funds managed by Blackstone and Regis.
The portfolio, which is concentrated in the south east of England, comprises 36 Vistry developments. The first completions are expected at the end of June, with most homes expected to be completed within the next two years.
Vistry is in the process of selling properties from its homebuilding division as the company moves to focus on its partnership business, which builds affordable housing for government and not-for-profit partners.