Assura

What does the company do? Assura is a property company that owns 560 healthcare properties throughout the UK, comprising both local GP surgeries and larger primary care centres. This focus results in high visibility over rental income with 85% of rental agreements backed by the government and a long average lease length of around 12 years. Why do we like the investment? There is a growing structural demand for primary care, given an expanding and ageing population which has an increasing and recurrent need for healthcare. The ageing estate of health properties in the UK is in need of modernisation, often being too small to accommodate the rising volume or broadening scope of care service required. Larger fit-for-purpose buildings, as provided by Assura, provide greater patient, organisational and cost benefits to the healthcare system, reducing strain on the wider NHS. Assura's strong reputation, national presence, scalable platform and solid balance sheet puts it in a unique position to be able to develop these properties. Its pipeline of developments is currently at the highest level it has been for 10 years and is set to further enhance its steady low risk income stream, underpinning sustainable dividend growth into the long term.