Reference
Precise definitions for the terminology used across The IPO Club's editorial coverage — IPOs, pre-IPO investing, UK REITs, specialist supported living, social housing, and the structural language of asset-backed property.
A company that owns, operates, or finances income-producing real estate, and is required by law to distribute most of its taxable income to shareholders as dividends. UK REITs benefit from exemption from corporation tax on qualifying property income.
A REIT structure raising capital in the private market before listing on a public exchange. Investors subscribe at a defined private-market valuation; at IPO or institutional sale the equity is revalued to public-market REIT multiples (historically ~22.29× for specialised REITs).
The per-share value of a REIT's underlying property portfolio minus its liabilities. Institutional investors compare IPO offer prices to NAV: a discount implies upside; a premium requires growth or yield compression to justify. For pre-IPO investors, entry below the IPO NAV is the explicit alpha.
The weighted-average remaining length of leases in a property portfolio, expressed in years. Institutional investors typically look for 5+ years at REIT IPO. Longer WAULT means more predictable income and stronger valuation multiples.
Related: REIT, Triple-net lease
Total debt divided by the value of the underlying property portfolio. Institutional-grade UK REITs typically target sub-40% LTV. Lower LTV reduces refinancing and interest-rate risk and supports a more defensive income profile.
Related: REIT, Capital structure
The UK Government department responsible for welfare and pensions policy, including the administration of Housing Benefit. In UK specialist supported living and supported housing investments, rent paid to registered providers is ultimately funded through DWP-administered Housing Benefit — making the income counterparty effectively the UK state.
Related: Specialist supported living, Social housing, Registered provider
A UK property asset class providing purpose-built homes for adults with long-term care needs. Properties are leased to regulated registered providers (housing associations) with rent funded by the UK Government via the DWP, typically on 20–25 year indexed triple-net leases. Combines social housing characteristics with REIT-style asset-backed income.
Related: DWP, Registered provider, Triple-net lease, Social housing
A category of UK social housing for people with high care or support needs. Closely related to SSL but with regulatory distinctions around how rent is set and recognised under Housing Benefit rules. Both share the same institutional defensive characteristics — long indexed leases, government-funded rent, registered-provider counterparties.
Related: Specialist supported living, Social housing, DWP
Housing provided at below-market rents by local councils or housing associations (registered providers) to people whose needs are not met by the open market. As an investment category, social housing exposure can be taken through specialised REITs, bonds, or pre-IPO equity in SSL/SSH vehicles.
A housing association or other organisation regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing in England (or equivalent bodies in the devolved nations) and authorised to provide social housing. Registered providers are the lease counterparty in most institutional supported-living and supported-housing investment structures.
Related: Social housing, Specialist supported living
An inflation-indexation mechanism applied annually to rent under long leases. Rent rises by the UK Consumer Price Index plus 1 percentage point each year. This protects real income against inflation while allowing modest real growth — a defining feature of institutional-grade UK supported-living lease structures.
Related: Triple-net lease, Specialist supported living
A lease in which the tenant (typically an operator) pays for property maintenance, insurance, and operating costs, in addition to base rent. Voids and operational risk transfer from landlord to operator, dramatically improving the predictability of net income to the property owner.
Related: WAULT, Specialist supported living
A legal entity created to hold a specific asset or set of assets, typically isolated from the parent's other liabilities. In UK property investing, SPVs are used to ring-fence individual properties or portfolios — particularly when an investment is structured to be debt-free, with the SPV's only obligation being the lease itself.
Related: Capital structure, REIT
An IPO of a vehicle whose value is anchored to tangible, income-producing assets — typically real estate, infrastructure, or contracted cash flows — rather than to projected future growth. Asset-backed IPOs are valued against NAV and contracted income, providing measurable downside support that growth IPOs typically lack.
Related: REIT, NAV, Pre-IPO REIT
A contractual restriction (typically 90–180 days post-IPO) preventing pre-IPO investors, founders, and insiders from selling their shares on the public market. Lock-ups exist to manage post-listing supply and stabilise the share price during the early trading period.
Related: Pre-IPO REIT
Annual rental income divided by the property's purchase price (or current valuation), expressed as a percentage, before deducting costs. Gross yield is a headline metric; institutional analysis also uses net yield (after operating costs) and total return (yield plus capital appreciation).
Related: High yield investment, REIT
The mix of debt and equity financing used to fund an investment vehicle. For UK REITs and supported-living SPVs, conservative capital structures (low or zero leverage, fixed-rate debt, laddered maturities) reduce refinancing and interest-rate risk and command higher valuation multiples.
A contractual mechanism that adjusts rent or other payments at fixed intervals according to a published index — most commonly the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the UK. Indexed leases protect the real value of income against inflation; the indexation formula (e.g. CPI, CPI+1%, RPI) materially affects long-term yield.
Related: CPI+1%, Triple-net lease
Transactions in which existing investors in private-equity funds (limited partners) sell their fund interests to other investors before the fund's natural wind-down. The secondaries market provides liquidity in an otherwise illiquid asset class and has expanded materially as a standalone PE strategy.
Related: Private credit
Lending provided by non-bank institutions — typically direct lenders, business development companies (BDCs), or private-credit funds — to mid-market or sponsor-backed borrowers. The category expanded significantly post-2008 as banks retreated from leveraged lending.
Related: Private equity secondaries