The Week in Housing: modular firm and NHBC in the dock, plus more consumer judgements

On the regulatory side, concern about a merger of two of the sector’s biggest house builders continues.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has asked Barratt and Redrow to submit proposals to address its concerns following the first phase of its inquiry into their potential merger.

If the house builders can ease the watchdog’s concerns about the £2.5bn deal potentially creating a lack of competition in a local area, they will be able to avoid the merger being subject to an in-depth investigation by the CMA.

Meanwhile, the deadline for Bellway to make an offer to acquire rival house builder Crest Nicholson has been extended.

In a statement, the firms said “good progress” had been made, but more time was needed to “fully conclude due diligence” on a deal believed to be in the region of £650m.

Four more social landlords were found in breach of the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) expanded consumer standards.

All four have been given a C3 grading by the RSH, which means there are “serious failings” and they must make “significant improvements”.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman criticised another London council for its treatment of a disabled and pregnant mother and her family.

The woman was placed in several “unsuitable” and “poorly maintained” temporary accommodations, including one that was so mouldy her baby had to be hospitalised.

There were a number of trading updates this week as Vivid reported building a record number of homes in 2023-24, but its annual surplus was damped by high interest costs.

Southern Housing’s surplus dropped by £37m in 2023-24 due to delays in the completion of schemes and higher costs, as it stops committing to new developments altogether.

The chief executive of Sovereign Network Group vowed that the housing association will remain a “developing landlord” despite reporting a 12% fall in annual surplus.

Karbon Homes revealed a reduction in its operating margin for 2023-24 as additional repairs and maintenance costs eat into its surplus.

House builder Persimmon reported no slowdown in housing associations bidding on its Section 106 stock at the same time as the firm had written off its £25m investment in modular firm TopHat.

Its buoyant statement comes at a time when some major landlords have warned that they could stop buying Section 106 homes because of financial pressures.

Concern about housebuilding led one lobby group to ask the Greater London Authority to consider launching an institutional investor-backed fund to acquire “stranded” Section 106 homes to prevent major developments stalling.

BusinessLDN, which represents around 160 organisations in the capital, has written to the city’s MPs, council leaders and assembly members, warning of a Section 106 “logjam” because traditional housing associations’ appetite for new homes was waning.

Inside Housing also revealed how one East Midlands contractor is in talks with potential buyers for its struggling social housing arm.

As well as news of a potential merger between a small north London housing association and a Hertfordshire landlord, there were several big senior appointments across the sector.

The former chief executive of The Housing Finance Corporation was appointed chair of Sustainability for Housing.

Accent Group appointed the boss of Habinteg Housing Association as its new chief executive.

The chief executive of a South East landlord announced that she would retire after leading the housing association for 15 years – as did the chair of the mayor of London’s development corporation, who is stepping down after serving two terms.

The government revealed some policy changes after announcing that it would scrap former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to favour UK nationals when allocating social housing.

It was also reported that housing minister Matthew Pennycook is considering tougher rules around evicting private tenants for the forthcoming Renters’ Rights Bill.

On fire safety, Southwark Council has informed the residents of an estate earmarked for demolition that they will have to move out due to safety issues.

The concern comes as one fire safety expert is calling for more cross-agency working to identify trends and common themes in prevention of future deaths reports issued after fire-related fatalities in homes.

With the UK experiencing the worst riots for many years over the past week or so, the Housing Diversity Network issued advice to support tenants and communities.

In the short term, the membership body urged housing providers to reach out to tenants who may have been directly affected by the disturbances. It said personal check-ins, offering reassurance and providing practical support can make a “significant difference in their sense of safety and well-being”.

Inside Housing interviewed Nick Bano, barrister and author of Against Landlords, about how he had inadvertently come across as the ultimate nimby.

And with more housing associations likely to get into financial difficulty. We asked: how should board members prepare, and how should they respond, if their organisation is struggling?

Have a good weekend.

Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing

Say hello: stephen.delahunty@oceanmedia.co.uk

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