OK, this might sound a bit obscure if you’re not in the know, but let me tell you what it’s all about and why it’s important. A ‘Real Estate Investment Trust’ is a company which invests in property and raises money by selling its shares on the stockmarket. What makes this one different is that the properties it owns have been bought or built as social housing, let via housing associations and charities; the brave new world of privatised homes for the disadvantaged, which would, in days gone by, have been provided and funded by the state and local councils. The company is in trouble, investors want money out, interest on its borrowings has increased and, surprise surprise, many poorer tenants can’t afford to pay their rent. So it will have to sell properties and quite possibly boot out those who can least afford to be booted out. More privatisation chickens home to roost. I’d say.
“John Lewis foray into BTR could result in losses of £57m”
I did predict a while ago that Waitrose Homes rather than Waitrose Home Deliveries could be the future. John Lewis were probably the most benign big business to decide to go into the housing rental market, a move which could swing things away from the unpredictability of the mass of private landlords who dominate the sector.
