Social housing investor Home REIT aims to have its stock market trading suspension lifted after it published delayed results revealing a plunge in profits and having sold the majority of its portfolio.
At the start of January it was suspended from trading for three years after failing to publish its annual financial report on time, amid serious concerns over its property valuations, poor rent collection, investigations into its business model and severe rent arrears.
In its delayed results for the six months to February 2025, the company revealed it owned 860 properties, 385 of which were leased to 17 charities, community interest companies or other registered providers. The remaining 475 were managed by third-party property managers.
However, the group confirmed that it had since exchanged contracts to sell 706 properties, representing the majority of its portfolio, to Patron Capital for £123m, in a deal expected to be completed around the start of April.
The REIT has also exchanged on or competed the sale of a further 10 properties between 1 and 25 March for £1.1m.
The company said that now that it has published all outstanding financial information required under the UK Listing Rules, it will apply to the Financial Conduct Authority for the “restoration of its listing and the recommencement of trading on the London Stock Exchange”.
The company began a wind-down process in July 2024. Its decline was sparked by a short-selling report from Viceroy Research in November 2022, which revealed a concerns including a shaky rental structure, leading to a downward spiral and a dramatic write-down of its portfolio value.
Last month, the company posted a £30.6m pre-tax loss and a like for like fall in portfolio values to £154.9m in the year to August 2025, compared with £265.4m the year before.
In January, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) arrested six people and began a fraud and bribery investigation over past management of the REIT. The company said it “continues to provide all assistance that is able to the SFO in pursuing its investigations”.
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