Residential Secure Income (ReSI) is acquiring a local authority residential building in the East of England for £21.3m (€24.4m)

The real estate investment trust said the freehold residential building in Luton benefits from a lease to a local authority and used to provide housing under the local authority’s statutory obligations.

The building has recently undergone a full refurbishment, completed in 2016, and contains 134 self-contained residential flats.

Following completion of this acquisition ReSI will have invested £155m of the proceeds raised at its initial public offering in assembling a portfolio which now comprises 1,772 residential units, it said.

Ben Fry, of ReSI Capital Management Ltd, ReSI’s fund manager, said: “By investing capital in good quality, modern housing, we can help local authorities meet their obligations to provide accommodation without relying on expensive and short-tenure solutions such as hotels or hostels.

“Investments such as this provide ReSI shareholders with a local-authority backed, inflation-linked income stream underpinned by the continuing strong demand for such accommodation.”