Moorfield launches €577m REIT

Moorfield Group, the U.K.-focused real estate investment manager, has launched MREIT, a new investment vehicle that will initially target acquiring existing and newly built homes within two residential-for-rent subsectors: single-family homes (SFH) and student houses of multiple occupation (HMOs).

MREIT has raised £100 million (€115 million/$122 million) of capital to date and is targeting more than £500 million (€577 million/$608 million) of investment capacity. The REIT is aimed at institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers rather than retail investors.

MREIT is looking to take advantage of the market opportunity presented by buy-to-let investors exiting the rental market due to increased taxation, mortgage costs and regulation. Nearly half a million landlords are expected to sell their rental homes in the next five years, according to property consultants Hamptons International, with 140,000 leaving the market last year.

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