RCS - Regional REIT Ltd - Update on Office Occupancy

Regional REITAnnouncement

09/06/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1730C  Regional REIT Limited  09 June 2023

9 June 2023

REGIONAL REIT Limited

("Regional REIT" or the "Company")

Update on Office Occupancy

Tenants are now at an average of 4.2 days a week in the office

99% of tenants have returned to the office

Regional REIT, the regional office specialist, is pleased to provide an update
on the return to the office, based on a survey of the occupiers across 106 of
the buildings in the Company's office portfolio.

The survey's results are based on an 82.2% response rate from the Company's
office tenants across a wide geographic spectrum of the main regional centres
of the UK and in aggregate account for over 24,000 employees. The key survey
findings were:

·    Employees have returned to the office for an average of 4.2 days per
week

 

o The survey highlighted that of the employees who confirmed they are back in
the office, now attend for an average of 4.2 days per week.

 

·    99% of companies confirm their return to the office

 

o Having previously reported that 99% of companies were back in some form last
November, the Company is pleased to report that this position remains
unchanged according to the new survey, with 99% of tenants back in the
Company's buildings.

 

·    65% occupancy vs 70% pre-pandemic

 

o Pre-pandemic actual occupation is estimated at 70%(1), for example if a
company had 100 desks then on average during business hours 70 desks would be
occupied, with the balance unoccupied due to absences from holidays, illness,
or out of the office on business. The Regional REIT study of the portfolio
shows that current occupancy is 65%, which is 93% of the pre-pandemic
occupancy levels and is expected to grow further.

 

1 Savills, European Office Occupancy March 2023

 

Stephen Inglis, CEO of London & Scottish Property Investment Management,
the Asset Manager to Regional REIT commented:

"This latest survey demonstrates clearly that 'the office' is an integral part
of business life, particularly in the regional markets of the UK. 93% of
employees have returned to the office when compared with pre-pandemic times,
and have returned on average 4.2 days per week. This is a clear indication of
how far the situation has improved in a short space of time. Further, we
continue to witness a steadily improving environment with more people back in
the office.

"I continue to hold the view that it will be the end of 2023 before we really
see new trends becoming established but as I look at the data, indications
clearly point to an average of more than four days in the office and less than
one from home, which is very encouraging for the regional office market."

 

 

- ENDS -

 

Enquiries:

 

 Regional REIT Limited
 Press enquiries through Buchanan

 Toscafund Asset Management                                 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7845 6100
 Investment Manager to the Group
 Adam Dickinson, Investor Relations, Regional REIT Limited

 London & Scottish Property Investment Management           Tel: +44 (0) 141 248 4155
 Asset Manager to the Group
 Stephen Inglis

 Buchanan Communications                                    Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
 Financial PR
 Charles Ryland, Henry Wilson, George Beale

 

About Regional REIT

Regional REIT Limited ("Regional REIT" or the "Company") and its
subsidiaries (the "Group") is a United Kingdom ("UK") based real estate
investment trust that launched in November 2015. It is managed
by London & Scottish Property Investment Management Limited, the Asset
Manager, and Toscafund Asset Management LLP, the Investment Manager.

Regional REIT's commercial property portfolio is comprised wholly of income
producing UK assets and comprises, predominantly of offices located in the
regional centres outside of the M25 motorway. The portfolio is geographically
diversified, with 154 properties, 1,080 occupiers as at 31 March 2023, with a
valuation of c.£792.4m.

Regional REIT pursues its investment objective by investing in, actively
managing and disposing of regional core and core plus property assets. It aims
to deliver an attractive total return to its Shareholders, targeting greater
than 10% per annum, with a strong focus on income supported by additional
capital growth prospects.

The Company's shares were admitted to the Official List of
the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the London Stock
Exchange on 6 November 2015. For more information, please visit the Group's
website at www.regionalreit.com (http://www.regionalreit.com/)  .

Cautionary Statement

This document has been prepared solely to provide additional information to
Shareholders to assess the Group's performance in relation to its operations
and growth potential. The document should not be relied upon by any other
party or for any other reason. Any forward looking statements made in this
document are done so by the Directors in good faith based on the information
available to them up to the time of their approval of this document. However,
such statements should be treated with caution due to the inherent
uncertainties, including both economic and business risk factors, underlying
any such forward-looking information.

ESMA Legal Entity Identifier ("LEI"): 549300D8G4NKLRIKBX73

 

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