Last checked at 15 Jul 2008 14:34
| For Immediate Release | 15 July 2008 |
The Off-plan Fund Limited
Rescission of contracts in respect of developments at Tring and Hayes
The Board of The Off-plan Fund Limited (the "Fund"), which specialises in providing forward finance to UK housebuilders, announces the rescission of contracts which it had entered into in March 2007 with the developer, FirstMove Developments Limited, for the purchase of 38 apartments to be built in Tring, Herts and 31 apartments to be built in Hayes, Middlesex.
As previously described in the Fund's recent interim results, despite the continued best efforts of the Manager there has been very little progress for some months on either development. Outstanding issues relating to the s106 (affordable housing) elements on Tring and the purchase of the balance of the site on Hayes continue to frustrate the Fund's objectives. Neither construction nor marketing have commenced on either site.
The Board and the Manager believe that these transactions have very little likelihood of going forward in accordance with the anticipated timetable. Having taken legal advice as to the options available to it, the Board has decided to exercise the Fund's contractual right to rescind all contracts and recover the deposits which it had paid in respect of Tring. No deposit had been paid in respect of Hayes. The funds allocated for these transactions, including the deposit and associated proportion of the Fund's completion reserve, will be put to better use on the Manager's current deal pipeline which, despite the prevailing uncertainty for UK residential property and housebuilders, continues to provide a number of interesting propositions for consideration.
The rescission of the projects at Tring and Hayes have no bearing on the net asset value of the Fund (84.9p per share). The Company also reports an unaudited "Red Book" net asset value which is intended to provide investors with an indication of the potential value inherent in the portfolio deriving from the discounted prices to market value achieved by the Fund on entering into transactions and is derived from the latest Red Book valuations of the property portfolio prepared by independent valuers. The impact of the rescission is to reduce the "Red Book" NAV from 101.6p per share (at 31 March '08) to 98.0p, a 16% premium to NAV.
List of Contacts
Development Capital Management
Roger Hornett
Andy Gardiner
020 7355 7600
Numis Securities Limited
Nominated Adviser
Nick Westlake
020 7260 100
Corporate Broking
Charles Farquhar
020 7260 100
Buchanan Communications
Charles Ryland
Isabel Podda
020 7466 5000