Barely a year after the start, ‘sustainable landlord’ Yally is once again adding 30 million euros to bring more energy-efficient homes onto the Flemish rental market. “But if the government wants to realize its ambitions for affordable and sustainable housing, it must adjust the regulations,” says CEO Anneleen Desmyter.
Yally, which was founded by the infrastructure investor TINC and TDP (a joint venture of Belfius and the investment company Gimv), has been buying homes in Flanders since last year to make them energy efficient and to rent them out.
The essence
- The infrastructure fund TINC, the investor Gimv and the banking group Belfius jointly founded the real estate company Yally last year to respond to the growing demand for sustainable rental properties.
- Yally buys homes, makes them energy efficient and then rents them out.
- The company raised 30 million euros last year, and a year later the shareholders pumped in another 30 million euros.
Many houses and apartments in our country are outdated and poorly insulated. Especially since the energy crisis, tenants have been asking their landlords to take extra measures to reduce their electricity or gas bills. But due to rising interest rates, rising prices and the often complicated administration, not every homeowner is eager to invest in such an expensive renovation.
Yally – short for ‘Your Ally’ or ‘Your Ally’ – responds to this. It offers private homeowners and property companies to take over, renovate and rent out their homes. The real estate group already raised 30 million euros in capital last year to purchase homes and apartment blocks in Flanders and to further professionalize the rental market. A year after its start, the company has around 100 homes and apartments in its portfolio.
Now Yally wants to move up a gear. TINC, Belfius and Gimv are investing another 30 million euros to enable Yally to respond more quickly to the growing demand in the rental market. “Rising interest rates and rising prices make it more difficult for many people to buy their own home and they want to rent,” says Anneleen Desmyter, CEO of Yally. ‘At the same time, the supply threatens to shrink because many owners no longer want to renovate their properties financially. We offer a solution.’
The fresh capital should make it easier for Yally to purchase another 300 residential units. ‘Although that is certainly not the end point,’ says Desmyter. ‘The need for housing is great. That is a market with enormous growth potential.’ In order to continue to finance this strong growth, Yally does not rule out that some new shareholders will come on board in the long term. Although, according to Desmyter, no concrete discussions are being held about this today.
Tenant as victim of permits
The real estate industry is screaming bloody murder over the federal government’s decision to abolish the temporary VAT reduction on certain new construction projects. From January 1, only private individuals can use the reduced VAT rate of 6 percent on demolition and reconstruction. Does that decision have consequences for Yally’s plans?
‘Not in itself, because the VAT rate of 6 percent usually remains in force for the properties we buy,’ says Desmyter. ‘But that does not alter the fact that we would prefer to see the existing VAT scheme retained. Renovation is part of the solution to the problems on the housing market, but some buildings are only good for demolition.’
If the government wants to realize its ambitions for sustainable and affordable housing, it must also tackle regulations in other areas, says Desmyter. ‘Flanders increased the registration fees for a second home or apartment to 12 percent. But if that home is rented out, it is mainly the tenant who suffers, because the higher rate will be passed on. At the same time, there is also an overkill of regulations for renovation. You must apply for a permit to insulate an exterior facade. This means you have to hire an architect, which in turn entails other costs. If you look at it this way, these obligations sometimes represent more than a third of the renovation costs. If the government works with a reporting obligation, these costs can already be reduced.’