Charities Property Fund director says market conditions are improving
A charity-only property fund that sold off a sixth of its portfolio two years ago has made £100m of acquisitions over the past six months, including a Tesco store.
The Charities Property Fund was forced to sell eight properties to return money to 71 of its 960 charity clients, who wanted to withdraw their money because of falling property prices.
However, the £330m fund has announced that it now owns 50 properties and has increased its roster of clients to 1,100.
The Tesco store was bought for £43m. The fund also owns the Montague Centre, a shopping centre in Worthing, West Sussex.
Harry de Ferry Foster, director of the fund, said that in the intervening two years capital values for commercial properties had fallen by about 45 per cent, but that market conditions for property, though still challenging, were now improving.
