Housing group reports healthy waiting list for its homes in third quarter update

PRS REIT, the Manchester-based housing group, reports progress and high rent collection rates, in a third quarter trading update to March 31, 2021, today.

During the quarter the REIT added a further 427 new homes to its portfolio, taking the total portfolio to 3,590 completed homes with an estimated rental value of £33.3m per annum.

This represents circa 70% of the company’s fully optimised target of an initial 5,200 homes, providing an estimated rental value of £50m.

Rent collection and demand for the homes has remained high, with arrears remaining low at £0.2m, despite the 96% growth in the rent roll over the past nine months. Rent collected in the period was 99.2%, compared with 100% the previous year.

The REIT has delivered a total of 1,508 homes over the first three quarters of its financial year, which includes 175 homes acquired from BlackRock Real Assets and Sigma Capital Group, and is significantly above the 909 homes added over the whole of the last financial year.

The company was operating from a total of 65 completed or contracted sites – sites under construction – at the end of the third quarter, compated with 60 a year ago, with an estimated rental value of £48.8m from the 65 sites, against £46.2m from the 60 locations.

It said demand for rental homes has remained high.

At March 31, 2021, 3,433 of the company’s 3,590 completed homes were occupied, and a further 74 homes were reserved for qualified applicants with rental deposits paid.

There is a healthy waiting list for homes still under construction, with 44 homes pre-let, it added.