Good morning. Welcome to the ReSI Secure Income plc annual results presentation for the year ending 30th of September 2023. My name is Mike Adams. I'm the Managing Director of Gresham House Real Estate. I'm pleased to be joined today by Ben Fry, Fund Manager, and Sandip Patel, Finance Director, and they're gonna take you through the ReSI plc presentation. Ben focusing on the key highlights of the year and the asset management, and then Sandip taking you through the financial numbers. We'll then end with a question and answer session, which I will chair. As you know, you can actually tap on the screen to put your questions on, which I will then take to the floor. So I'm gonna hand over now to Ben, to take us through the presentation.
Thanks, Mike, and good morning, everyone. So just wanted to start with an overview, if we just move on to the next slide, of the key metrics for FY 2023, that we're gonna talk you through today. So firstly, we've delivered strong top-line growth with 6.1% like-for-like rental growth, while achieving record occupancy. So that's 96% in retirement and 100% in our shared ownership portfolio, now full. All underpinned by that strong 99% rent collection. However, this year we have had that being offset by retirement cost increases, increased floating rate debt costs, and higher fund OpEx, which have left adjusted earnings down 3% year-on-year, and reduced our dividend coverage to 91%, which Sandip will talk you through in a few moments.
Given the huge impact of rising debt costs and cost inflation that we've had in the year, we're very fortunate to be invested in strong assets with great top-line growth to offset this, and I'll come on to the next slide to talk about how we will ensure next year this growth flows to shareholders. So before I move on to that, just continue on the key metrics. So turning to our valuations, as with many other REITs, the increase in gilt yields has led to a 10% like-for-like decline in the value of our investment property, which has led to a total EPRA NTA return of -18%, to take EPRA NTA to 81.8p.
And that's also increased our loan to value to 50%, but as a reminder, we've got really long-dated debt, an average maturity of 21 years, 89% of which is fixed or inflation-linked. So over the long term, that really limits the impact of interest rate rises on our portfolio, and we'll come on to talk about what we're doing about that 11% that is floating rate. So if I move on to the next page then. So, as I touched on just now, 2023 has been a challenging macro backdrop, but I really wanted to outline here the opportunity we have and what we're doing to drive future value for our shareholders. So to start with, we're in a great position, focused on two growth markets, shared ownership and retirement.
We expect that strong top-line growth that I just mentioned to continue, particularly underpinned by a continuing lack of supply and increasing demand, with wage and pensions growth both at 8.5%. At the interims, we announced a review of non-core assets. We've now agreed a sale for our local authority portfolio. It is under offer, and that is expected to complete in early 2024. This will strengthen the balance sheet, allow us to pay off that floating rate debt that I just mentioned, and leave us with only that really long-dated, long-term bond debt. So a 23-year average maturity, and our largest loan will be GBP 94 million, fixed at 3.5% until 2043. So an incredible piece of debt that underpin the portfolio returns over the next 20 years.
We also announced at the interims the impact of floating rate debt costs, retirement cost inflation, and fund OpEx, which broadly have knocked around 1p off our income. Sandip will talk you through this in a few slides' time. So we are rebasing our dividend to 4.12p per share, with a future focus on growing this on a covered basis, while continuing to invest in our portfolio to drive top-line growth. We're really focused on driving that growth by investing in an expanded asset management team to drive retirement portfolio operational improvements. So this is led by Chris Carter Keall, who joined us in the summer. His focuses will include rationalizing the portfolio footprint, driving rents, and reducing leakage, which I'll talk through in a few moments' time.
We're also reducing our management fee to more closely align with shareholders' interests. So from January 1, 2024, it'll be based on the average of NAV and share price, rather than just NAV. Also, continuing to focus on reviewing options for further portfolio disposals, while which supports underlying philosophy of maximizing shareholder value. So in summary, a real focus on active asset management to drive performance and value. So if I move on then, I just wanted to provide a quick reminder of our portfolio, which is ultimately about providing secure inflation income. So we focus on two massively underserved markets, with incredible growth, potential and rental security. So we've got direct leases with about 2,600 pensioners and park homeowners, who are very geographically diversified, as you can see on that right-hand side.
So the largest part of our portfolio, 58%, is fit for purpose homes for retirees. So this is the U.K.'s largest private rental retirement portfolio. It's let on affordable rents with lifetime tenancies, underpinned by housing benefits if people require. And it's all about maintaining independent living without care for longer. You can see that through 60% of our customers reporting an improvement of their mental health since they've moved into the accommodation. Incredibly important, we think that loneliness is the biggest health problem for the overall. Then the other key part of our portfolio, 36% is shared ownership. So this is a part rent, part buy home ownership model. Home buyers acquire a share in a residential property and rent the remainder from ReSI.
It's all about helping young families and key workers acquire a home they'd otherwise be unable to buy or afford, and that affordability being supported by government grant funding, meaning the living costs are 40% or so below market. Remaining part of the portfolio, 6% local authority, which, as I mentioned, is being sold. So really, we've got two great platforms in growth sectors, and I'll come on now to talk about their portfolio performance. So if we just move on to the next slide, I'm gonna start with shared ownership. So we've got that GBP 124 million portfolio, 766 homes. It's now fully occupied, so including 59 vacant homes that we acquired this year, September, December, and March. Why is that? Demand, as I'm sure you're aware, is continuing to rise.
Increasing mortgage rates and private rents mean shared ownership is increasingly the most affordable housing choice for young families and key workers. Really great for us. Rental income underpinned by the 36% average shared owner stake, plus that below-market rent, meaning we have incredibly strong 99% rent collection. And this will continue to be a strong driver of performance, with rents increasing at RPI plus 0.5 each year. So this year we did look at rental increases. We chose to cap rent increases at 7%, rather than contractual 12.4, in order to protect affordability for residents. A unique time of real pressures on affordability and inflation, not matching wage growth.
So our cap broadly matched both wage growth and core inflation, including energy bills, and also matched the majority of not-for-profits operating in the sector. Just as a reminder, this was entirely in our gift and entirely in our gift to do so, and a great example of how we look to balance long-term returns with the welfare of our residents. As we look to next year, next April, when the rents increase, that's due to increase about 9.4%, which is broadly in line with current earnings growth. It's a very different picture this year, and we therefore expect to pass that increase through.
As you can see in the bottom right-hand corner, all this has driven up shared ownership income 23%, which will continue to grow in FY 2024, reflecting both full year impact of this year's 7% increase, as well as our expected 9.4% increase next year. So really, shared ownership, you've got that incredible platform, real value, in terms of the income stream that we have. You know, it's basically a debt product in terms of security. And because of the investment needs of the housing association, there are some really great investment opportunities available today, to get access to really great kit that otherwise wouldn't be available. So something that we'd love to be able to take advantage of, if we had capital.
If I move on then onto to page 10, on retirement. So we've also seen strong lifeline rental growth of 6%, improved occupancy reaching a record of 96% and 99% rent collection. So as with shared ownership, we've been capping our rent increases, 6% here to protect affordability, and also support those, any residents who are in particular financial hardship with rental freezes or reduced increases. Broadly, that saved residents around, around a year, this year in terms of rental costs. It is important to, to look at retirement. It is cost intensive, with 46% leakage of rental income, which is because the properties have maintained gardens, common rooms, and, and on-site managers.
We have seen increases there, particularly 45% inflation in energy costs for communal areas, which has increased our overall OpEx by 13%, and therefore mitigated that rental growth to only increase NOI by 1%. The underlying demand that we have and rental growth positions as well, once these one-offs have been worked through. Just looking at the bottom left-hand side of the screen, I want to talk through some of the active asset management steps we set out we'd do at the interim to drive our NOI. So firstly, it was about restructuring the property management team to take more advantage of tech and free up time for customer service.
So for example, over half our customers now electronically sign our leases, compared to previously, it was all a paper-based system. Saves around a week in terms of letting time, and that's something we continue to roll out and decrease. We find our demographic is increasingly becoming very tech aware. We've also re-tendered our repairs and maintenance contracts. Preferred supplier is now being utilized, leading to a significant increase in speed, quality. And these are two parts of a comprehensive review of our reletting process, which has led to a 30% reduction in void periods, supporting that occupancy growth up to 96%, that I mentioned earlier. And we wanna continue to reduce that void period, and therefore increase occupancy.
So if I move on then to the next page. So those are some initiatives we've taken already. We're very much not stopping there. We're really focused on driving performance in retirement. Particularly Chris, who I mentioned earlier, has recently expanded the asset management team. I've outlined on this page here some of their focuses over the next kind of medium term. So very much today, big focus is on driving rent growth now that our portfolio is very close to fully let. Then looking to support that rent growth by upgrading our properties, so investing in them to enhance rental growth. Particularly at the moment, we're looking at upgrading bathrooms and kitchens with a minimum return on cash of 8%, so accretive to our earnings.
Also looking at introducing self-serve technology to drive down leakage. So this is about automating move-in, move-out, billing, repairs, notification, things that are kind of very familiar in build-to-rent, traditionally less so in retirement, reflecting an older demographic. But we do increasingly find that they are very becoming more and more tech aware and are able to do this, and also utilize their support of their kids to help them do that. That will then allow our team to focus on customer service rather than more administrative functions. Then over the medium term, really focused on rationalizing our portfolio footprint to drive economies of scale. So we've illustrated on the maps the intention to really focus down on the portfolio.
So broadly, you can see those, those blue blobs where we have less than 7 properties per town. We want to exit those ultimately and really focus on where we have local scale, and also focus that scale on where we see growth predictions on future retirement demand. Using a combination of our local knowledge as well as ONS growth predictions. And you can see on the right-hand side, what that slimmed out portfolio is gonna look like in terms of concentration.
We've identified an initial kind of 150 properties within this for disposal, and then we'll be recycling that capital, reinvesting it in the core locations, as well as part of the upgrade program that I mentioned earlier, to help drive both rental growth as well as economies of scale on maintenance, and get more controls on service charges, things like the energy bills that I mentioned on the previous page. And part of this is supported by resetting our dividend, we talked about earlier, which will give us the coverage to run this program without impacting dividend cover. So just on the next page then, I just wanted to outline some of our sustainable investment highlights.
Incredibly important when you're investing in a sector where your assets are people's homes, so that's the single biggest thing they spend most of their time off, and can have the biggest impact in terms of their quality of life. So like this year, we know, has been difficult for everyone, so this slide does bring out some of the things we're doing to help. I've already talked about rent caps. Next, in the top left-hand side, you can look at that affordability. So shared owners pay 34%, 16% less, for the same home, compared to if they were owning it outright or renting it privately. So that's what I was focused on, about shared ownership being the most affordable product, home product for key workers and young families.
Just below that, you can see some of the great work by our in-house property management team. They've got 80%-90% satisfaction levels, and really importantly, that 60% of our retirees experiencing that improvement in mental health when they move in. On the right-hand side then, on the environment, so I did touch on earlier, we've been working on improving this. Our, our direct rented portfolio is now 98% EPC above, which compares to 47% of the wider market. So it's a, it's a big differential. And if you think until very recently, the government had a target of, of achieving C for directly rented by 2025. Something that, that, yeah, while it's been postponed, we do expect to continue, and we want to continue to be ahead of that target.
Something we think is very much helps deliver our sustainable returns over the long term. Just as a reminder, generally kind of D, C saves a resident about GBP 21 a month in terms of energy bills for a one-bed flat. And meanwhile, in shared ownership, where we're typically, you know, kind of two, three-bed houses, our shared owners are saving GBP 55 a month compared to an average home with a lower EPC rating. So I'm now gonna hand back to Sandip to talk you through the financials for the year, and then we'll come back afterwards to talk about outlook.
Thank you, Ben, and good morning to all who have joined the ReSI plc 2023 results call. I'll be taking you through the summary financials, management fee amendment, debt stack and covenants.... Detailed here on this slide is the FY 2023 P&L. Stepping through the adjusted earnings. Our gross rental income grew 9% from GBP 25.7 million to GBP 27.9 million, which translated into 6% growth in net rental income from GBP 17 million to GBP 18.1 million. This GBP 1.1 million absolute increase year-on-year is broken down to component parts in the bridge on the right-hand side. GBP 0.7 million of organic growth came through the retirement portfolio. GBP 0.6 million was through the 6% like-for-like rent reviews achieved, and 0.1 of this was attributable to the operational improvements, including higher occupancy and lower void.
This GBP 0.7 million of growth was curtailed by a GBP 0.6 million increase in retirement-related cost inflation. In total, service charges increased by 13%, which was predominantly as a result of higher energy bills to heat and light communal areas. The shared ownership portfolio contributed GBP 0.3 million of organic rent growth, through 6.8% like-for-like rent reviews, following the 7% rent reviews effective in April 2023. The 6.8% like for like rent growth was lower than the 7%, as not all of the shared ownership portfolio had the same rent review mechanism in terms of timing, with some leases increasing every year on a compounding, but basis every two years.
GBP 0.4 million net rental income growth is derived from full occupancy and a full year's contribution from shared ownership acquisitions completed in the prior financial year. Finally, GBP 0.3 million of net rental income accretion originated from the acquisition of the Brick by Brick portfolio, which was committed into in the prior financial year, with 59 homes delivered on a phased basis between October and March 2023. Our first-time sales profits reduced by 18%. As a reminder, first-time sales reflects the gain on costs recognized by us selling a portion of shared ownership homes, and is thereafter replenished by ongoing rental income. This reduction reflects the ongoing maturity of the shared ownership portfolio, with all sales mix now being removed. Net finance costs have increased by 16%.
This was mainly caused by a 20% increase in interest on borrowings to GBP 5.5 million, with ground rents expenses remaining flat at GBP 1 million. Higher finance costs have been mainly driven by a 400 basis points average increase in SONIA year-over-year, GBP 21 million of floating rate debt. Our management fees were flat at GBP 1.9 million. The impact of the February 2022 equity raise, fully offset by the outward yield shift across the portfolio. The FY 2023 and 2022 management fee is calculated on the same basis, and is before the basis of calculation change announced in our results, which will be effective in the second quarter of this financial year, on which I'll provide more color later in the presentation.
Our overheads increased substantially by 13% year-on-year to GBP 1.5 million, and this has been attributable to higher costs associated with running the listed fund, including increases in audit and depositary fees, together with further investment in the regulation and governance of our registered provider of social housing, ReSI Housing, as it grows and matures. Overheads are now fully baked in and predominantly fixed and known. In totality, our adjusted EPRA earnings fell by 3% to GBP 8.7 million, and more broadly, it's been a function of higher expenses and finance costs of floating rate debt, which outpaced the strong underlying rental growth. Next slide, please. For both FY 2022 and FY 2023, ReSI paid dividends totaling 5.16 pence per share.
Strong top-line rental growth from acquisitions, operational improvements, and organic inflation-led rent increases, would have more than offset the impact of retirement cost inflation and delivered full coverage before the impact of increases in finance costs and fund overheads. It's important to note here, the company was well advanced with a prospective equity raise in September 2022. In anticipation of the equity raise, ReSI was drawing on its RCF as a bridge to enable some of the acquisitions in the pipeline to complete. The equity raise was postponed due to the widespread market dislocation in later September 2022, and ultimately aborted in financial year 2023. Our GBP 21 million drawn floating rate debt is unhedged, therefore, it's been fully exposed to the higher rate environment we are currently operating within.
Taken with our higher expenses in the fund, this contributed to a GBP 0.007 decline in dividend coverage. In aggregate, GBP 0.047 per share of adjusted EPRA earnings equates to 91% of coverage. As Ben mentioned, we signaled at the interim results back in June that we were going to rebase our dividend. This rebasing has led to a GBP 0.0412 per share dividend target for FY 2024, and it's been taken in response to the higher expenses and floating rate debt costs. This rebasing has been made in contemplation of the local authority portfolio, to extinguish the drawn floating rate debt. As you can see, towards the end of the bridge, the levered local authority portfolio contributed GBP 0.005 per share to adjusted EPRA earnings.
Removing this from FY 2023 would have resulted in 4.2 pence of earnings, with 103% coverage against the rebased dividend. The dividend rebasing has been undertaken to allow full coverage and a progressive dividend policy, underpinned by, A, the inherent revenue inflation linkage thereafter, and B, the asset management optimization initiatives outlined by Ben earlier. Next slide, please. Total return for FY 2023 on a NAV pe share basis was -19.1 pence per share and is made up of two parts. On the income side, we had 4.7 pence per share of adjusted earnings, which covered 91% of the 5.2 dividend paid. We also recognized 0.3 pence per share one-off costs in relation to some fundraising costs.
In aggregate, the portfolio benefited from 6.1% like-for-like rental growth, which was valuation accretive by 7.5 pence per share. This was outweighed by an 80 basis points weighted average outward yield shift, which was diluted to valuations by 28.5p. In aggregate, our valuation decline contributed 21p in EPRA NTA. Also, within EPRA is a negative balance, which reflects indexation of our inflation-linked debt. As you can see on the bridge, the idea behind the inflation linkage is to support delivery of inflation-linked returns. The general impact of inflation is about three times on property valuations, as it is on debt, with the intention being NAV grows in excess of inflation in a stable property yield environment. Next slide, please. Turning to the management fee amendment outlined earlier.
ReSI is not immune to the macroeconomic environment, and like many other listed REITs, have moved to substantial share price to NAV discounts. The fund manager has offered and agreed with the board to change the basis of calculation. This has been done to align the manager with the interests of shareholders. The change will be effective from Q2, commencing 1 January 2024. The fee percentages have remained as they were, but are now in reference to an average of market capitalization and NAV, capped at NAV. As an example, if our NAV was GBP 100 million and the discount was 30%, the management fee would be in reference to a value of GBP 85 million at the prevailing percentage. Next slide, please. Now, turning to our debt stack.
ReSI has three debt facilities, comprising an amortizing term loan with Scottish Widows and USS, which is an amortizing facility with principal inflation linked, with a 0.5% floor and 5.5% cap, and it carries a blended coupon of 1.1%. In addition to this, we have a GBP 21 million RCF, of which GBP 21 million is drawn off the GBP 25 million limit. The weighted average debt maturity of drawn debt is 21 years. 51% is fixed at an all-in rate of 3.5%, and 38% being USS facility. Our GBP 21 million floating rate debt exposure is planned to be removed by the sale of a local authority portfolio, and once repaid, will leave the balance sheet with 100% fixed on inflation in debt with a 23-year average maturity. Next slide, please.
Detailed here on this slide is our covenant. Due to the 80 basis points outward yield shift across the portfolio since September 2022, ReSI LTVs, ReSI's LTV, measured in accordance with the respective facility agreements, has increased to 51%, which is broadly aligned to the 50% target leverage. All facilities are in compliance with covenants and have headroom. The Santander RCF does carry a 55% LTV covenant. As a reminder, it is around about 11% of our outstanding debt balance, and we expect it to be fully extinguished by the local authority portfolio sale. The GBP 25 million, we do have headroom on the facility, with GBP 25 million property value headroom, which is about 7% where a covenant trigger would be breached.
We estimate, based on the current net passing rent, ReSI's weighted average valuation yield will need to shift out by a further 40 basis points for this valuation loss to be realized, and this is on top of the 80 basis points widening since September 2022. We expect that higher quality assets generating stable income flows, such as the ReSI portfolio, will stabilize more quickly and prove more resilient from a yield perspective. Additionally, we expect a structural supply and demand imbalance, along with the inherent inflation linkage in the portfolio to add to strong valuations outcomes. Now, taking Ben back in for outlook and closing remarks.
Thanks very much, Sandip. So let's summarize and talk through outlook then. So it's really important, our portfolio is underpinned by a really acute need for affordable, high quality, safe homes, with ReSI focused on two huge growth markets addressing big problems: growing increasingly on the increasingly lonely elderly population, as well as an inability for key workers and young families to access home ownership. There's a huge need for more affordable housing. British Property Federation estimate that's about GBP 34 billion a year, while the traditional players, housing associations, are having to reinvest about GBP 35 billion into their own social rented stock by 2030, to focus on fire safety and energy efficiency.
This means there are some really great investment opportunities out there that otherwise would not have traded, and also means the government is really supportive of helping to fund new housing, should you have capital available to be able to deliver that. We've had, looking back at 2023, we've had strong top-line growth of 6.1%, which has been curtailed by rising rates and cost pressure. However, positively, as we look to 2024, we expect that strong growth to continue, underpinned by pensions and wages increasing at 8.5%, but without a repeat of the same rising rate environment and those one-off energy cost rises that we had over the past 18 months.
This means that top line growth should flow through to the bottom line, while we're able to continue to focus on customer service and protecting residents who are most at need and at risk. We're really not stopping there, though. We don't want to just rely on market movements. We're really focused on driving performance with a strong value enhancement strategy in retirement underway. We've also reduced our management fees to more closely align with shareholders. At the same time, we're investing in that asset management team to focus on performance. We'll really continue to take an active approach to managing our portfolio and continue to review options for further disposals, which support maximizing shareholder value, but we will not sell.
Fundamentally, ReSI's got two really strong platforms that shareholders have supported, and grown, and we need to ensure we take advantage of that for, for shareholders and deliver the strong future returns that those portfolios are positioned to deliver. So on that note, I'll hand back to Mike to open the floor to questions.
Thank you, Ben. Thank you, Sandip. I've got a number of questions through, so I'll just start from the top. The first question is one for Sandip. What is the anticipated reduction in management fees from the change in fees in terms of the, the actual amount you're expecting them to be reduced this year?
Okay, yeah, so if we take the IFRS NAV at the end of September, which is roughly about GBP 168 million, and I think the discount over the share price has been roughly around 30% for the financial year. So we would take 85%, which is halfway between the discount and NAV, of the GBP 168 million, which would come out to about, I think, roughly about GBP 145 million, is what we'd be charging the management fee and reference fee. So if the NAV was to stay the same, and the discount was to stay the same, the management fee would be about GBP 1.4 million-GBP 1.5 million, versus the GBP 1.9 million we recognized in the year.
Thank you, Sandip. Next question is for Ben, and a couple of questions which I'll combine. Can Ben explain what he means by leakage, and what he's doing to reduce it? And then another question specifically on the energy costs, and what are we doing to reduce energy costs in our buildings?
Yeah, thanks, Mike. So leakage means for every GBP 1 in rent, how much do we have to pay in property management, maintenance costs, before it comes down to net rent, and is ultimately then paid out to shareholders as dividend. So that's what I mean. That leakage is just that percentage of property operating costs. What are we doing to reduce it, and what are we doing about energy costs, in particular? So in terms of energy costs, there's a limit on what we can do to the price of energy, but what we can do is invest in the portfolio itself to make it more energy efficient.
And that is a real part of our asset management strategy of rationalizing the portfolio down and focusing on those key blocks and key locations where we can take control and help to invest in that energy efficiency to reduce the amount of energy that's actually used in blocks. In terms of other costs and what are we doing to control those, it's really driven by the same thing. So, rationalizing the portfolio whilst investing in technology to help reduce the marginal cost of property management, allow our team to focus on customer service rather than more administrative functions.
Thanks, Ben. Next question is regarding asset prices, and where do we see asset prices trending at the moment? Has the softer interest rate have helped in asset pricing, in your view?
So really, there, there are two big drivers to asset pricing. First, income growth, which we do expect to continue to be strong, as we talked about, underpinned by both the huge demographic demand for our assets, as well as that 8.5% earnings, pension, earnings and pensions increases. Second, then you've got yields which are very closely linked to interest rates. It is quite difficult to give a view here, but the consensus is that rates have peaked and will be lower this time next year, which should more allow trading to happen around the level that NAVs are currently. Currently the market is quite thinly traded, and that's really across all real estate, as well as the sectors that we operate in.
Thanks, Ben. Next question is regarding the non-core assets, and what is the timetable for exiting, and has the price been finalized, and can you share what the price is?
Yes, so non-core assets, local authority portfolio, as we touched on, so they are under offer, expecting that to complete in or around the value. Clearly, can't say more until it's closed, because that is subject to contract. And we do expect that to close in the first quarter of the new year.
Right. Next question goes back to the work you're doing, Ben, on the rationalization of the retirement portfolio, and whether you can give any indications of the cost savings that you think this will, will drive in the portfolio to drive performance?
Yes. So, a little bit depends on how quickly we make progress. But really, in terms of our costs on retirement, there's two big kind of outcomes. About 60% is service charges, which is the cost of running the blocks. And then 40% is more direct costs, which is things like our property management team and the maintenance we do within the blocks. So the latter half is something we're already focused on controlling. The former half, really, we get more control of that as we consolidate the portfolio and gain more and more control over the blocks in which we operate under. And really, we'll be looking then to drive down those costs as well.
Within that, and really, we'll be looking to how quickly that proceeds, to how quickly we're able to drive down that cost.
Thanks, Ben. The next question goes back to energy costs again, and I think whether we're looking at longer term hedging of these costs, rather than the maximum 12 months previously.
Yeah. So, as it stands right now in the portfolio, that is difficult to do, which is because under leasehold law, you have to run kind of consultations to fix any costs for more than 12 months. The way we're able to deal with that and kind of take more control is to own whole blocks of retirement rather than apartments that are... Sorry. Rather than apartments that are as part of larger blocks. And as we're able to do so, you're then able to look at longer-term fixing contracts. Of course, we can't change leasehold law to make it possible today.
Thanks, Ben. Next question is regarding net initial yields, and what is the reason for the large difference between the net initial yield on retirement and shared ownership?
Yeah. So it's really in shared ownership, you're really investing in a debt product. It's really kind of akin to a mortgage with a homeowner who owns a stake in the home, is responsible for all the repairs and maintenance, and will be on a kind of 999-year FRI lease from that perspective. You've also got an incredible security position in that the affordability of the home is supported by government grants, which takes a third position, if anything bad were to happen with the residents, which is incredibly rare.
In contrast, in retirement, it is a much kind of more vanilla market rental product, which trades in line with kind of broader privately rented market. Does trade at a slightly higher yield because it is retirement, so it is specialized. There is a smaller demographic pool and a more, a little bit more work you have to do in terms of managing the welfare for those residents.
Thank, thanks, Ben. Next question, actually another one about retirement and sort of the secondary market for retirement homes. The observation where prices appear relatively low compared to new builds, and I suppose how that will affect the sale and re-deployment of capital in core areas.
Yeah. So our average retirement block has a value of about GBP 110,000. So it is relatively low. That does mean that there is a more kind of or a quicker-moving market than there is for the higher price newer retirement stock, which allows us then to do that recycling at a quicker pace than would be the case if we were looking at a newly built retirement, which can be more like kind of GBP 500,000-GBP 1,000,000 per property. So if anything, it should be an opportunity rather than a stress on the portfolio.
I'm conscious that we've got a few questions, then we'll try and wrap up soon. One of the last questions is political risk, and whether the trust is affected by recent proposals on reform for leasehold properties and ground rents.
Yeah. So, simple answer is no, we're not impacted. We're not investing in ground rents. Shared ownership is a very different product. It's an affordable housing product, very much supported by both Labour and Conservatives, so cross-political support. We work closely with both parties. They're very supportive of new capital coming into housing, and they're particularly supportive, both parties, for products that help young families, key workers, buy a home. You were seeing Keir Starmer talk about targeting increasing home ownership for those segments, as well as very focused on products that really work for retirees. Has a dual benefit. Firstly, helping to improve their health, as I touched on with regard to loneliness, which can help drive savings for the NHS.
Second, help freeing up some of the family houses that people may otherwise be stuck in, to help recycle that for other parts of the population.
Thanks, Ben. The final question I've got this morning is, what happens if the sale of local authority portfolios falls through? Have you got a plan B? How confident are you that you'll achieve that in quarter one next year?
So the plan, kind of. The core plan is to sell to the people we're under offer with. We do have other buyers. We do have a number of people who have expressed interest in these buildings, so that's really our second option. Is we work with one of those other parties that we do have offers with. And then really, if we have a difficulty in that piece, then we'd look to potentially refinance the portfolio to give us a little bit more time. But fundamentally, we do want to exit that market and reach focus on the two core areas. So how confident are we in Q1? Yeah, very confident.
Brilliant. Thank you very much, Ben, and thank you, Sandip. That's all the questions, and can I thank everyone for attending? And clearly, as always, we're very happy to take direct questions and have set up further meetings with investors over the next few weeks, if anyone would like that. Thank you all for your time today.