Residential real estate developer Mi Vida Homes can now manage Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) after it obtained a license from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
The license means that the company can now manage the assets of REITs.There are 3 main types of REITs: D-REITs which raise capital for developing projects, I-REITs which raise capital for acquiring income generating real estate, and Islamic REITs that are income generating and shariah compliant.REIT Managers are one of four parties involved in REITs; the others are promoters, trustees, and Project managers.“There has been a lot of momentum towards deepening the REITS market in Kenya in the recent past,” Mi Vida Homes Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Kariuki said, “We are excited at getting to this milestone as part of our long-term ambition to catalyse mobilization of capital markets towards both supply and demand side financing for real estate”
Mi Vida Homes, a joint venture between Actis and Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate (SPRE), launched in July 2019 and has built more than 3, 000 middle income housing units to date.
“The newly licensed REIT Manager joins other licensees to facilitate the development of real state infrastructure and thus support the national government agenda for affordable housing’, CMA CEO Wickliffe Shamiah said in a statement announcing the license.
