Hibernia REIT targets 50% rent rise

Publicly quoted property investment fund Hibernia REIT is targeting a 50% increase in total rent roll over the next two years, which would lift its rental income from nearly €40m to €60m.

As part of a strong set of annual results, the company said yesterday that new lettings and rent reviews added nearly €12m to rent income last year; up by over 70% on the previous 12 months.

Hibernia said that it has substantial headroom, of €260m, to invest on acquisitions and investments (it spent €179m on nine acquisitions last year), but much of its outlay will go on developing recently acquired office blocks rather than a raft of new purchases.