Bromford revenue rises as landlord narrowly misses development target

Bromford, which manages 44,000 homes across the Midlands and the South West of England, said it sold 69% of the homes it built for either sale or shared ownership within one month of completion.

Headline social housing costs stood at £3,780 per unit, up from £3,550 last year. Bromford said the cost increase was driven by increases in management, service charge costs and major repairs.

Social housing contributed to 84% of turnover during the year and Bromford’s social housing operating margin of 34%. Overall margin remained above 30% for the year, with interest coverage at 3.1x.

The housing association stepped up investment in its existing homes to £56m, as it continued attempts to bring outstanding repairs to below 6,000.

Bromford also met the targets on its portfolio of sustainability-linked loans, with 87% of its homes at Energy Performance Certificate Band C or above.

Robert Nettleton, chief executive of Bromford, said the year saw “significant challenges to our sector and the wider economy”.

He added: “We are proud that our customer advocacy score has increased by 4% to 83% and that we retained our top G1/V1 ratings from the Regulator of Social Housing.”

Paul Walsh, chief finance officer at Bromford, said: “We have responded to future pressures created by the rent cap and rising inflation, driving cost efficiencies to maintain strong margins and re-imaging our business plan through several iterations to once again maintain our A2/A+ credit ratings.

“We continue to enjoy significant covenant headroom and the financial capacity to meet the investment needs of our existing and new homes programmes.”