Portfolio developments 2014 in perspective

Portfolio composition at year-end 2014:

• A total of 210 properties across the Netherlands
• Total value investment properties of € 2.6 billion

Diversification guidelines and investment restrictions

During the financial year, the Fund adhered to its diversification guidelines and investment restrictions.

Time to market: investments and divestments in 2014

The Fund is backed by the anchor investor, bpfBOUW and by a number of new investors. This enabled the Fund to acquire some very high-quality housing products in Bouwinvest's core regions. Most acquisitions were in inner-city locations in the Randstad urban conurbation.

Acquisition of eighteen projects for a total of € 407 million

As a result of our active focus on the acquisition of new properties, we reached agreements on a total of:

• 1,447 apartments
• 207 family homes
• € 407 million investment volume

A selection of the eighteen acquisitions are described below.

Pontsteiger, Amsterdam – 300 apartments

The Pontsteiger development is a striking residential development in one of the most popular parts of the Dutch capital. The location on the IJ River, between Amsterdam Central Station and the A10 ring road and close the city’s cultural hotspots and historical city centre, will make this a flagship asset in the years to come.

We know that location is the highest priority for our target groups and the Pontsteiger is perfect in that respect. Magnificent views across the water, a lively neighbourhood with excellent accessibility by bike, car and public transport and perfect two and three-room apartments for young urban professionals. The complex also offers a range of top-notch amenities for tenants, such as storage rooms, bike parking, 165 underground parking spots and plentiful green areas. The project even includes private mooring for 45 boats, giving the development a perfect maritime touch for this location.

De Statendam, Amsterdam – 108 apartments

De Statendam project is located in the new Overhoeks high-quality residential quarter located in the former Shell Research site in the up-and-coming Amsterdam North district. Across the IJ River from Amsterdam Central station (and the Pontsteiger), De Statendam is just a five-minute ferry commute from the city centre of the Dutch capital, not to mention the burgeoning cultural life of Amsterdam North, including the EYE film museum and other cultural hotspots. The 108-apartment complex is also next door to Bouwinvest’s Halve Maen complex in the Overhoeks residential quarter, one of the Fund's newly built assets that was opened in 2014, fully let. The varied apartments in De Statendam all come with spacious outside areas, storage rooms, their own parking place and plentiful public green areas.

Zijdebalen, Utrecht – 177 apartments

The Zijdebalen urban redevelopment project in Utrecht’s lively city centre consists of four urban blocks offering a total of around 500 rental and owner-occupied homes with a diverse mix of housing types, including studios and apartments, luxury penthouses and spacious city houses fronting onto the local river, the Vecht. The 177 apartments the Fund has agreed to acquire include starter homes of 65 m², spacious city apartments of 80-100 m² and several luxury 130-m² apartments, all built over semi-subterranean parking garages. And to make sure Zijdebalen becomes a truly multifunctional urban living area, the development has earmarked space for a number of small-scale commercial functions, including a restaurant, café, offices and flexible workspaces with meeting rooms.

Marquant and Boszoom, Pijnacker – 78 apartments and 57 family homes

The Marquant and Boszoom projects in Pijnacker include 78 apartments and 57 family homes. Marquant is part of the Keizerhof expansion in Pijnacker and all 78 apartments come with spacious balconies, ground-floor storage spaces and ground-level parking spaces. The spacious family homes in the Boszoom project all have gardens and dedicated parking spaces. Pijnacker is located in the Randstad region, within commutable distance from The Hague, Delft, Zoetermeer and Rotterdam and offers easy access by car and public transport, plus a wide range of amenities within walking distance.

Rivers, Amsterdam - 75 apartments

The 75 apartments in the Rivers complex, part of the Kop Zuidas, are part of the burgeoning residential development in one of Amsterdam’s most popular new multi-functional urban centres, Zuidas. These ultra-modern two, three and four-room apartments, designed by hip architect’s firm Studioninedots, all have three-metre high ceilings, large windows and spacious balconies, with common bike parking and underground parking for 51 cars. The Zuidas location means the complex also offers easy access by bike and public transport for environmentally aware young professionals and starters. Demand for liberalised sector rental homes is very high in the Zuidas area.

Oostduinlaan, The Hague – 154 apartments

The apartment complex at Oostduinlaan is a high-end redevelopment of oil giant Shell’s former head office in The Hague. The transformation of the outdated office building into an ultra-modern apartment complex is aiming to achieve a BREEAM Very Good certification, showcasing Bouwinvest’s sustainable credentials. The complex combines a very sought after location, luxury apartments and a full package of facilities and services for residents, including cleaning services and fitness facilities. The complex, one low-rise and one high-rise block, is located in one the greenest parts of The Hague, surrounded by parks and water, while still being close to all the amenities of the city centre and offering easy access by bike, car and public transport.

Villa Industria, Hilversum – 80 apartments

The twin apartment blocks in the Villa Industria complex in the popular city of Hilversum include 80 apartments in the liberalised rental sector. The Villa Industria complex itself comprises a wide range of rental and owner-occupied homes, from apartments to semi-detached homes and both liberalised and regulated rental sector homes, creating a lively mix of residents in a vital part of Hilversum. The complex meets Bouwinvest’s core region and city-centre requirements and the 80 apartments fall into the Fund’s key mid-rental segment.

PicusKade, Eindhoven – 77 apartments

The PicusKade new-build residential complex is located between the former industrial site NRE-terrain and the DAF museum in Eindhoven, just 10 minutes walking distance from the historical centre of the city. The regeneration of this area and the transformation into a full-fledged city neighbourhood includes a major residential complex, together with an extension to the DAF museum. The PicusKade development will include 32 owner-occupied homes, 85 studios and 18 two-room apartments (both in the regulated sector), plus 113 liberalised sector apartments. The Fund is acquiring 77 of the liberalised sector apartments.

Acquisitions

Fund meets three-year divestment target in 2014

The sales target for 2014 was set low, at € 30 million, due to a number of factors and market trends. For one, at the beginning of the year the market looked to be more of a buyer’s market than a seller’s market. There was a large supply and prices were under pressure, partly due to the fact that a number of financially troubled housing corporations were looking to offload sizeable portions of their portfolios, including homes in both the regulated and liberalised rental sectors. And given the quality of the Residential Fund's portfolio, there was no urgency to sell properties.

We did see interest in the parts of the portfolio we were looking to sell in early 2014, but prices were still under pressure and unacceptable given the quality of the properties. However, increased interest in Dutch residential real estate led to a sharp upturn in investment activity in the second half of the year. The Fund was consequently able to sell a total of 559 apartments and 405 family homes, generating total proceeds of € 116 million. In one sale alone, the Fund sold 723 units to a joint venture of international investors.

A substantial number of the homes sold in 2014 was in the regulated rental sector. The Fund is looking to minimise its exposure to this market segment due to a variety of factors. Rent increases in the regulated rental sector are subject to government restrictions and the owners of properties in this sector are now subject to the so-called 'landlord levy' on rental income. Given the divestments in 2014 and the fact that proceeds from the divestments exceeded our target for the year by a minor loss, we have reduced the pace of our divestment programme for the next three years.

Divestments

Optimising the risk-return profile

In terms of risk diversification, at least 90% of the investments must be low or medium risk. At the portfolio level, we have identified the following bandwidths to budget the risk:

• 50-75% lower risk
• 25-50% medium risk
• 0-10% higher risk

In 2014, active asset management of the current portfolio, acquisitions and disposals ensured further optimisation of the Fund’s risk-return profile. The Residential Fund has a well-balanced risk profile, with the focus on low-risk assets in the Fund’s core regions.

At year-end 2014, the proportion of medium-risk investments had fallen to 38% from 41% at year-end 2013, while low-risk investments increased to 62% from 58%. Nearly all of the assets acquired in 2014 were classified as low risk due to their excellent quality and location. The majority of the divested assets were government-regulated homes, classified as medium to high risk. As a result, over 99% of the investment properties were classified as low to medium risk at year-end 2014, unchanged from 2013.

Portfolio composition by risk category based on book value

Portfolio diversification

At year-end 2014, the Fund’s total portfolio consisted of a total of 210 properties containing 14,181 residential units across the Netherlands.

Diversification by type of property

The Fund aims for a balanced mix of family homes and apartments, catering for the needs of couples, single occupiers and families alike. In 2014, the Fund bought and sold both family homes and apartments. Compared with 2013, the proportion of apartments in the total portfolio was slightly higher at year-end 2014 (2014: 55.3%; 2013: 54.5%).

Portfolio composition by type of property based on book value

Portfolio composition by age

The Fund aims to constantly refresh the portfolio. As a result of this continuous rejuvenation, the weighted average age of the portfolio is 18.0 years (2013: 17.9 years). Despite the refreshment of our portfolio in 2014, the weighted average age of the portfolio has risen slightly and will continue to do so in the years to come. This is primarily due to the fact that the decision to divest a particular asset is based on expected returns rather than age. Older assets that are held in the portfolio are kept up-to-date through refurbishments, including new bathrooms and/or kitchens.

Age composition as a percentage of book value

Price level diversification

With an average monthly rent of € 927, the focus of the Fund continues to be on the mid-rental segment. Approximately 75% of the portfolio has a monthly rent of between € 699 and € 1,200. With the acquisition of 130 homes in the lower mid-rental segment in 2014, the Fund is well represented in a segment that is in high demand due to the current economic conditions and governmental measures. Individuals, couples and families who do not qualify for government-regulated rental housing are still finding it difficult to buy due to the scarcity of financing. In addition, the rental market gives customers greater flexibility and provides a safe haven in the current uncertain economic climate. The Residential Fund’s continuing focus on the (lower) mid-rental segment has given it a solid portfolio of prime properties perfect for this target group.

Portfolio composition by price level based on rental income

As a result of active asset management, acquisitions and divestments, we increased the percentage of liberalised rental homes in the portfolio to 85.8% in 2014 from 83.1% in 2013.

Portfolio composition by type of rent based on rental income

Focus on core regions

The Fund aims to achieve a balanced diversification, with a strong focus on core regions with a positive economic and demographic outlook. The target is to have at least 80% of the total value of the portfolio concentrated in residential real estate in these core regions.

Due to revaluation, together with acquisitions and divestments in 2014, over 90% of the portfolio value was located in these core regions, with by far the greatest part (82%) located in the core region of the Randstad urban conurbation.

Portfolio composition by core region based on book value

The Residential Fund is constantly refining its long-term regional focus. This involves anticipating and responding to long-term trends that may affect the value of the portfolio, such as the growth of the number of households, ageing and urbanisation. The Fund’s core regions include the Randstad conurbation (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht), the Brabantstad conurbation (Breda, Eindhoven, Helmond, Den Bosch and Tilburg) and the eastern region (Arnhem, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen and Zwolle). These regions are expected to see the greatest population growth and largest increase in the number of households.

As the ageing of the population is a nationwide trend, it will also affect these regions. This is likely to result in increased demand for new homes for seniors. One example of this is the Deo Neo Rosorum complex in Haarlem, which includes a wide range of assisted-living facilities. We have also added issues important to seniors to our programme of requirements.

Active asset management

Financial occupancy

We devote a great deal of attention to preserving high occupancy levels by maintaining close relationships with tenants and property managers. Because we take a tailor-made approach, designed in close cooperation with Bouwinvest’s research and marketing departments, we know how to match our homes with prospective tenants. As a result, most new developments are fully rented on the delivery date.

Active asset management combined with high-quality housing products at the best locations result in continuously high occupancy rates (96.5% average in 2014; 96.4% average in 2013).

Financial occupancy rate

Tenant satisfaction

To continuously improve tenant satisfaction, Bouwinvest conducts an annual tenant satisfaction survey. The results of this survey give us the information we need at property level to know which improvements are needed or desired. This gives us another way to optimise the portfolio. For more details, please see the CSR section in this report.