Affordable completions up at Clarion despite building safety approval delays

“We remain focused on increasing our investment in our homes over the remainder of the year,” Clarion said.

Its pre-tax surplus jumped by 119% to £101.6m, echoing Clarion’s Q2 update where its pre-tax surplus grew by 114% for the first half of 2024-25.

Clarion’s turnover also grew by 12% to £807.2m, while its operating surplus increased from £160.5m to £210.1m.

The surplus increase was down to “focused cost control and a return to the inflation-linked rent formula after the previous year’s below-inflation increase, along with an increased surplus on disposals”, the association said.

Its completions to date also rose by 54% to 1,246, of which 83% were affordable tenures.

The future pipeline stands at 20,304 homes, which Clarion said was “slightly reduced in comparison to the previous quarter due to completions outstripping planning approvals”.

However, investment in developing new homes in the financial year to date fell year on year, dropping from £380.1m to £349.3m as a result of some later starts on site.

Income from outright market and shared ownership sales also grew to £127.8m from £91.6m the previous year, though the margin decreased to 7.6% from 10.7%. This was an improvement though on Q2’s margin of 5.4%, Clarion said, thanks to stabilising development costs.

Rent arrears continued to improve compared to Q2 of this financial year, dropping to 6.61% from 6.91%.

The landlord also said it was “disappointed” to have received a negative outlook on its credit rating from Fitch, but added it was “pleased the agency acknowledged the improvement” in its financials to date for 2024-25.

The association ended 2023-24 with a drop in its post-tax surplus of 10% due to high supply chain costs, regulatory changes and the need to invest in existing stock.

Clare Miller, chief executive of Clarion, said it had been a year of “significant and unprecedented challenge”.