Charities property fund

Savills Investment Management (“Savills IM”), the international real estate investment manager, has today announced that its Charities Property Fund (CPF) has sold the freehold interest in Access 14, Kettering to a private investor for £7.37 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.25%.

The 109,000 sq. ft. industrial unit was let to Designer Contracts on a lease expiring in December 2029. Savills acted for The Charities Property Fund, whilst Everton Philips advised the purchaser.

The proceeds have been reinvested in a newly constructed distribution unit in Liverpool, let to Amazon on a new 10 year lease for £8.6 million, reflecting a yield to the fund of 6.7%. B8 Real Estate advised the vendor and CBRE advised the Charities Property Fund.

Income is a key driver of long-term performance in property; Income consistently provides a stable and significant proportion of total returns over the long term and our focus is weighted towards securing and increasing income, which preserves and enhances the underlying value in property, to generate higher risk adjusted returns.

Angy Benitz, Portoflio Manager of The Charities Property Fund, commented:

“This continues our focus of constantly improving the quality of the portfolio. We have sold an older unit in Kettering which the Fund has owned since 2004 and successfully re-let on a new 15 year lease, reinvesting the proceeds into a better located, newly developed unit, let to Amazon at a softer yield. The property is located on the same estate as an existing warehouse acquired by the Fund in 2013 and continues our strategy of building critical mass and multiple holdings in strong locations through individual acquisitions. The Amazon warehouse serves as a parcel delivery hub to the Liverpool conurbation and adds to the growing number of urban logistics units held in CPF.”