Home REIT has served its investment manager a formal termination notice as it launches aggressive cost-cutting measures as part of its winding-down.

The stricken property firm said it had served its investment manager, AEW, six months’ notice in its latest trading update, with the contract set to expire in April 2027.

The board said it is searching for a lower-cost fund manager specialising in corporate liquidation as all of its properties have now entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation.

Alongside severing its relationship with AEW, Home REIT is also sharply lowering the advisory fees it pays the manager, after triggering contract amendments first announced in August 2025.

Monthly fees have been reduced to £120,000 per month as of 29 October, with the firm confirming they will fall further to £42,000 from January 2027.

The move comes as the board looks to slash its costs from £4.7m to between £2.5m and £2m per year. 

Home REIT, which floated in 2020, was hit by a damning report from short-seller Viceroy Research at the end of 2022 which sounded the alarm on the make-up of its tenant base and their shaky finances.

The firm’s shares were suspended after the company failed to publish its annual accounts in the wake of Viceroy’s allegations.

Asset disposal and legal costs

The decision to move away from AEW also follows the disposal of its remaining 853 property assets, which generated £138.8m. 

Coupled with all subsidiaries entering liquidation, the board stated it was a “necessary step” in allowing it to plan for any “subsequent return of capital to shareholders”.

But the social-housing company’s legal battle continue, wracking up costs of £0.5m in the third quarter. 

Despite falling from £1.2m the prior quarter, the group is still facing the costs of an investigation from the Serious Fraud Office, as well as High Court proceedings brought by over 800 former shareholders.

The shareholders hit the firm with claims for losses they allege were caused by misleading statements and omissions of key details about the company, its business model and portfolio. 

The investors allege the housing firm painted a misleading picture on the security of its rental income, tenant experience and valuation of its portfolio, all of which they say was “fundamental” in their decision to invest.

Retaining its listing

The firm also decided to retain its listing on the London Stock Exchange, arguing that savings from listing fees were not significant enough to trigger cancelling shares or going private.

“The Board has concluded that the marginal cost of maintaining a stock exchange listing is not material in the broader context of the company’s ongoing costs and legal expenses,” the firm said in its trading update.