The Week in Housing: an insight into the sector’s financial health

Good afternoon.

Recent months have been dominated by stories about how the housing supply chain has been impacted by the current financial environment, with?contractors entering administration ?and various players?shutting down their offsite manufacturing businesses .

This week ended with the news of problems even closer to the core business of social landlords, with the story that the?English regulator had made a special payment of ￡670,000 to support the financial position ?of an as-yet unnamed housing association. Expect more on this story in the weeks and months to come.

Elsewhere (and unconnected to the above story), the week bought a number of opportunities to judge the current state of the housing sector, as several major landlords published their annual financial statements.

Read the full stories for all the details, but financial statements this week revealed:

• Karbon Homes pre-tax surplus had increased ?to more than ￡83m, driven in part by its merger activity over the last financial year and growth in its rebranded subsidiary 54North Homes
• Large London landlord?Metropolitan Thames Valley cutting its development pipeline ?(a familiar story in the sector at the moment)
• Clarion’s surplus almost halved ?after making a ￡345m payment to restructure some of its high-interest legacy debt. The housing association also increased spend on maintenance and improvement works on its existing homes
• Sovereign’s completions rising nearly 40% ?despite inflationary pressures. It said this was in part due to its “innovative and land-led approach toward new development”
• Radius Housing, Northern Ireland’s biggest housing association,?increase its development pipeline to 700 homes

In other financial news, 34,000-home South of England landlord?Vivid secured two private placements ?worth ￡110m.

While?two major house builders reported a drop in profits ?due to rising mortgage rates.

Looking forward, Stonewater, one of the UK’s largest social housing providers, revealed?plans to merge with Mount Green Housing Association .

In council housing news, an?Essex authority has applied for an injunction to force developers to uphold Section 106 agreements .

Research from London Councils led to a call for emergency action after?new research estimated that one in 50 Londoners are currently living in temporary accommodation .

A survey by the National Federation of ALMOs and the Association of Retained Council Housing found that 85% of landlords surveyed reporting?higher rent arrears among their tenants .

In Wales, the?auditor general outlined “real fears” about the building safety regime ?in the country.

There was better news in Scotland, with the Scottish Housing Regulator?highlighting landlords’ positive efforts to deal with damp and mould . Landlords and councils also welcomed the?Scottish government’s ￡60m housing acquisition scheme .

Martin Hilditch, editor, Inside Housing

Say hello:?[email protected]

@martinhilditch

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