LondonMetric buys warehouses for £18m

LondonMetric Property has bought two warehouses in Hull and Dartford for £18m and have been let to DIY stores, Wickes and B&Q.

The Metric Income Plus Limited Partnership, a joint venture with the Universities Superannuation Scheme, has bought a B&Q warehouse in Hull and a Wickes warehouse in Dartford for a combined £18.4m. Its share consists of £9.2m, a blended yield of of 6.8%.

The 71,000 square feet B&Q store in Hull was bought from Stobart Group and Roebuck Asset Management for £9.4m, a yield of 7.5%. The property has been let back to the DIY store for £750,000 per year for an unexpired lease for 12 years.

While the 40,000 square feet Wickes retail warehouse in Dartford was acquired from a private investor, and the store was granted a 20 year lease with rent for £9m per year, a yield of 6.2%.

Andrew Jones, chief executive of LondonMetric, said: "These are two strong income producing assets, let off an average lease term of over 15 years, generating an income return on equity in excess of 10%.

"Both assets trade well and these transactions demonstrate our strong occupier relationships to source attractive off-market opportunities, in both the retail and logistics sector."