Home REIT hit as two of its tenants collapse

TWO tenants of troubled landlord Home REIT have collapsed, intensifying pressure on its finances.

Gen Liv UK and Lotus Sanctuary, which combined make up 18.2pc of the company’s annual rent roll, have entered liquidation agreements with creditors.

Gen Liv provides around 517 beds to vulnerable people in northwest England while Lotus offers 939 beds for its residents, most of whom are women.

Home REIT, a landlord to the homeless, is now in talks with prospective tenants to take over the leases. It stressed ‘arrangements have been made’ to ensure residents would continue to receive existing care and support services, although details were not disclosed. It added that ‘no resident will lose their accommodation’ as a result.

The beleaguered property firm has been gripped by crises since November after short-seller Fraser Perring attacked it by questioning its business model.

It is in dispute with charity tenants such as Liverpool-based Big Help, which have withheld rent payments in protest against the conditions of some properties.

Its shares have been suspended since the start of the year after it failed to publish financial results on time, and shareholders are nursing large losses.

A forensic accountant is investigating bribery allegations.

Home REIT also faces multiple lawsuits from investors. And it is under growing scrutiny over its claims of being a socially responsible investment, and over its relationship with property dealmaker Christopher Downing.

It follows reports that Gareth Jones, a partner at Home REIT’s former investment adviser Alvarium, told Downing to urge tenants to ‘corroborate’ the firm’s sustainability credentials as part of a ‘box- ticking exercise’.