European Residential REIT (ERES) has confirmed it is working with CBRE, as financial and real estate adviser, in connection with a strategic review of ERES.
The confirmation came after CoStar News broke the news earlier this week that ERES has hired the broker to sell its €1.68 billion Dutch property portfolio due to rising interest rates and new rent regulations. The Dutch portfolio makes up almost all of its €1.777 billion of assets. The remaining properties are in Belgium and Germany.
ERES said it has not established a definitive timeline to complete the strategic review or any transaction. It also said that no decisions have been reached at this time and that it would make no further comment.
A decision to sell by the REIT, which controlled by Toronto-based Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, would mark a complete exit from the Netherlands. It would also mark a significant strategic change since parent company CAPREIT announced its chief exectuive, Mark Kenney, would take the same position at ERES after Phillip Burns left the European REIT.
The Dutch government is introducing new rent regulations to make housing more affordable, particularly for middle-income people. Maximum rents are determined according to a points-based system.