The Ireland Immigrant Investor Programme – FAQ
Why Irish IIP?
The Irish Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) is supported by the Irish government and managed by INIS (http://inis.gov.ie), a department within the Department of Justice. The IIP offers fast approval times, with the investment only required to be made after approval. In addition, Ireland has a well-developed education system and language advantages, very good standard of living, a rapidly developing economy and has become a new hot spot for relocation.
- HNWIs can obtain residency without moving
- Approved first, invest later
- Fast approval in 4-6 months
- No language requirements, no interview, no medical check required
- No travel restriction, only one day residency per year required
What are the IIP application requirements?
- The main applicant must be at least 18 years old
- The main applicant’s legal spouse, children under the age of 18 and financially dependent unmarried children between 18-24 years old, may apply as ancillary applicants
- No international criminal record
- Net worth of two million euros
What are the IIP investment requirements?
- Minimum investment of one million euros
- Investment term of at least three years
How does Bartra Wealth Advisors help?
Bartra Wealth Advisors prides itself on delivering streamlined, in-group, end-to-end services. Its unique business model supports clients throughout their investment and immigration journey, from immigration advisory and government-backed IIP projects through to exit executions. It maintains a 100% application approval rate and a 100% renewal rate.
- Invest in safe IIP projects with Government backed revenue streams
- IIP qualifying investments in nursing homes and social housing
- Projects are INIS approved, fully owned and controlled by Bartra
- 100% approval rate, 100% renewal rate
- Capital protection and annual return paid on maturity*
- Regular updates and strong customer service
*Annual return applies only for nursing home projects.
Is there any requirement for my children to land in Ireland annually and at every visa extension if I register them?
No, the only people who need to fulfil the one-day requirement are dependants over 16 and the main applicant.
INVESTMENT PROJECTS
Has INIS set out preferred investment sectors?
Yes, Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) has set out a clear investment preference for Nursing Homes, Social Housing and Primary Care Centres. Bartra Wealth Advisors is promoting Nursing Home and Social Housing projects developed by Bartra.
Why did INIS identify these sectors?
Each delivers key social infrastructure in sectors where the Government wants the private sector to help address the current deficit in supply.
Why does Bartra promote new build projects rather than existing built projects?
New build projects provide more economic impact than purchase of existing assets and therefore fit the objectives of the IIP, which is to stimulate economic activity and provide additional employment. In the area of nursing homes, many of the existing homes are 60-80 bed properties which is below the level that we would consider to be efficient to operate under current regulations (120-150 beds). The existing homes were built under previous regulations and may not in some instances comply with all of the current guidelines. Similarly, existing social housing units may not have been built under current standards, and in the case of the 25-year index lined Enhanced Lease local authorities can only enter into this form of lease for new units.
Does Bartra own all the projects it promotes?
Yes, Bartra always owns the land in question prior to marketing a project to investors.
How Bartra mitigates the risks in developing a new Nursing Home?
Pre-construction the main risk is selecting a site where there will be local demand from patients, public transport links for staff, high weekly payment rates from Government. Then there is a question of managing the construction tendering and build process. Once operational the key risk is achieving certification with the health regulatory body (HIQA), agreeing an appropriate rate with the Government funding body (NTPF) and sourcing resident. Bartra has successfully managed all these risks in its portfolio of Nursing Homes.
How Bartra mitigates the risks of developing new Social Housing sites?
Pre-construction the main risk is selecting a site where comparable rents are high, there is demand from the Local Authority for social housing, planning permission can be obtained and no adverse ground conditions for construction. A lease then needs to be negotiated with the Local Authority. Then there is a question of managing the construction tendering and build process. Bartra has successfully managed all these risks in its initial Social Housing Sites.
How will nursing homes and social housing perform in an economic downturn?
Given the higher quality income stream from Government these assets can be expected to perform well in an economic downturn as there is likely to be a flight towards higher quality assets.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
What is Bartra’s track record?
- €1.1billion of property at various stages from development to management.
- Sourced over €250 million of IIP property related projects in the Social Housing and Nursing Home space over the last three years
- Pipeline of 435 Social Homes with a value in excess of €130million
- Pipeline of 823 Nursing Home beds with a value in excess of €180million.
- 100% approval rate, 100% renewal rate
Information accurate as of May, 2020
Has Bartra partnered with non IIP investors in any of its business areas?
Yes, Bartra has numerous partnerships and relationships across its non IIP businesses: joint venture with Henley (a UK Fund Manager) to acquire €125m of commercial real estate assets, joint venture with Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) for €50m shared living project, joint development agreement with CIE (State transport company) to develop a 16,000 m2 office building, joint development agreement with Dublin City Council (DCC) to develop 1,000 apartments on prime 4 hectare city centre site.
Are there any other companies of similar size active in the IIP space?
We are not aware of any other similar sized and resourced business promoting IIP projects.
How many IIP investors has INIS approved for Bartra projects to date?
INIS has approved 223 investors to June 2020 across Bartra’s approved projects.
What structure does Bartra use for its IIP projects?
Bartra examined a number of potential structures when setting up our IIP offering. We use a variety of structures across our various business lines (IIP and non IIP) and choose the one that best fits the product and investor. In the case of our IIP offerings, we use a tax efficient structure as the investors are non-resident.
Why not use a fund structure?
We are conscious of the INIS rule that investments into Funds by IIP applicants are required to be held for a minimum of 3 years post when the investment is made into the project and not when the investor makes the investment into the Fund. This could cause difficulties on traceability and verification when reporting to INIS where the investor money is not immediately advanced by the Fund to the project.
Which structures are regulated by the Department of Justice?
No structures are regulated by the Department of Justice, for regulated structures this is the responsibility of the Central Bank of Ireland.
How does the Bartra structure ensure diversification?
We are conscious of the benefits of diversification and seek to provide this to our IIP investors. In nursing homes, all homes (approx. €30m each) are owned by a Healthcare Parent Company, with this parent company providing a guarantee of repayment of all project company loans. In the area of social housing we combine four to five projects together in a bundle (approx. €40m to €50m) to provide diversification within the bundle with each bundle similarly being guaranteed by a Social Housing Parent Company – providing further diversification.
Does Bartra use debt in its IIP Projects?
Bartra uses debt in certain of its projects for a number of reasons including: matching timing of project funding needs with IIP approvals and maximising the number of projects that can be financed which is an important part of the strategy of building a portfolio of scale over the three to five year investment horizon. Investors should take comfort from the involvement of senior lenders in projects, given the extensive due diligence that lenders undertake on projects.
Do investors have a charge over the projects’ assets?
Investors benefit from a charge over project company’s assets (ranking behind senior debt if there is senior debt). Investors also benefit from the Parent Company guarantee (Social or Healthcare) in the event that there is a shortfall on a given project.
EXIT PLAN AND GOAL ALIGNMENT
How will investor loans be repaid at the end of the term?
Investor Loans will be repaid from the proceeds of selling the portfolios of either nursing homes or social housing blocks or refinancing with Debt.
Who will buy a portfolio of operating nursing homes?
There are a number of active buyers for these assets in Ireland with a number of sales having taken place. These buyers are attracted to the stable Government backed cash flows and the ability to deploy significant amounts of capital. These institutional buyers typically do not have the ability to develop new assets and would rather pay a premium to acquire operating assets.
Who will buy a portfolio of operating social housing?
Social Housing with 25 year lease attached is currently rare asset class as a limited number of leases have been entered into by Local Authorities (Bartra’s Stoneybatter project was the first). Purchasers will be attracted to the stable, high quality, long term index linked cash flows from the Local Authority. Under the terms of the lease the owner of the social housing units has no exposure to vacancy or changes in market rents over the 25 year life.
How do investors know that Bartra will sell the assets?
Unlike a situation where funding is provided to third party projects by IIP promoters, Bartra is in full control of the timing of any sales process. The directors of the project companies give a written undertaking to investors that they will take all steps necessary including disposing of the projects to repay the investor loans.
Is there goal alignment between Bartra and investors?
Investors fund projects at cost not revalued amounts. Bartra takes the profit after investor loans have been repaid. This ensures clear goal alignment between Bartra and investors. Where a promoter receives payment up front for an investment rather than a profit share there is less incentive to ensure that the project performs well.