‘Vulnerable people were promised homes while investors were promised returns’
15:14, 14 Jan 2026Updated 16:32, 14 Jan 2026
The Serious Fraud Office(Image: )
Two arrests were made in Greater Manchester today as part of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into a social housing and investment company.
A house in Altrincham, Trafford, was raided at dawn on Thursday in an operation supported by the National Crime Agency. The SFO said a man and a woman were arrested there, but no further details about them have been revealed.
A ‘commercial site’ in Manchester was also being searched on Thursday morning as part of the investigation, but it hasn’t been described further. No exact location has been revealed. Nationally, the SFO said six arrests were made today and seven sites were being searched in total.
In a statement, it confirmed the launch of a ‘bribery and fraud’ investigation into the ‘past management’ of Home REIT, a social housing company and real estate investment trust. The SFO said ‘suspected offending’ had an estimated value of £300 million.
Arrests were also made Maidenhead, Berkshire, and across London. The suspects held – five men and one woman – are aged in their 40s, 50s and 70s and all six remained in custody on Thursday. The SFO said the six were arrested on suspicion of bribery and fraud-related offences contrary to the 2010 Bribery Act and the 2006 Fraud Act.
Searches being carried out in London today(Image: SFO)
Home REIT was described by the SFO as a property company which invested in the provision of sheltered housing for homeless people throughout the UK. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in August, 2020, but it suspended trading in January, 2023, a process which saw its shares suspended.
It sold investment in its leasing of thousands of homes across the UK, raising more than £850m in its first three years of trading, the SFO said. It’s understood that a number of properties bought by Home REIT are, or were, based in the Greater Manchester area.
In a statement, the SFO said: “Investors were told that their money would be used to buy and restore properties that would be block-let to publicly funded charities and community interest companies to house rough sleepers, veterans and people struggling with addiction. Returns would be generated to investors from rent payments.
“In November 2022 an investor report into Home REIT raised multiple concerns about the company including the valuation of its properties and the ability of its tenants to pay rent. It suspended trading on the London Stock Exchange in January 2023.”
The SFO’s investigators in London(Image: SFO)
A home in Venice, Italy, was also being searched as part of today’s operation.
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves MP said: “The allegations in this case are deeply serious. Vulnerable people, including rough sleepers and veterans, were promised homes, while investors who funded millions of pounds were promised returns. Both groups deserve answers.
“Fraud is a devastating crime harming people and damaging business confidence. I fully support the Serious Fraud Office’s fraud and bribery investigation, working with enforcement partners at home and abroad.”
Emma Luxton, Director of Operations at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said: “This company had a meteoric rise, spending millions on properties that were supposed to house the most vulnerable in society and provide returns for investors. Its chaotic downfall has left many with unanswered questions. Today we conducted a major operation to advance our inquiries into suspected bribery and fraud.”
Visitors to the company’s website are told in a message: “This company is currently in a managed wind-down.”
It’s understood a large number of investors, spanning into the hundreds, are taking legal action to pursue claims for damages.