Housing group on course for 5,000th home by calendar year end
PRS REIT, the Manchester private rented sector housing group, issued a third quarter trading update today that showed it had added 127 new rental homes to its portfolio in the period to March 31, 2022.
This took the total number of homes added during the current financial year to 632 and the total number of completed homes in the portfolio to 4,616 as at March 31, 2022, a year-on-year increase of 29%.
With fixed price design & build contracts in place, the company continued to benefit from insulation against rising material costs.
The estimated rental value (ERV) of the 4,616 completed homes in the portfolio at the end of March was £45.5m per annum, approximately 37% higher than at the same point in 2021 (March 31, 2021: 3,590 homes with an ERV of £33.3m per annum).
A further 822 homes with an ERV of £6.2m per annum were contracted as at March 31, 2022, and are at varying stages of the construction process. The company plans to acquire two further sites before the financial year end, utilising debt funding, and continues to anticipate completion of the 5,000th home towards the end of calendar 2022.
PRS REIT said its portfolio performed very well, with occupancy at 98% and rent collection at 99% as at March 31, 2022. Of the total of 4,616 completed homes 4,513 were occupied at the quarter end, and a further 40 homes were reserved for prospective applicants who had passed referencing and paid rental deposits.
Total arrears at March 31, 2022, were low at £0.5m (March 31, 2021: £0.2m). In the 12 months to March 31, 2022, like-for-like rental growth was strong at 4.8% on stabilised sites.
The board has declared an interim quarterly dividend of 1.0p per ordinary share for the third quarter.
Last month the business reported impressive six month figures for the period to December 31, 2021, with sales up by 86%.
The group achieved a turnover in the six months of £19.865m, up from £10.676m, and a profit before tax of £38.55m compared with £20.254m.
