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Great Places on track for development target as pre-tax surplus rises
Great Places Housing Group said it was on track to meet its full-year development target as it recorded a rise in pre-tax surplus for the first quarter of the 2024-25 financial year.
The large Northern housing association said it had 113 development starts on site as of June. It is aiming to build 4,000 new homes by 2027 and 9,000 by 2030.
In April, it said it had completed 2,134 homes and was on site with around 2,000 more as part of this target. It has also secured £6.4m from the Greater Manchester Brownfield Fund to build 423 homes across eight sites.
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The latest development update was more positive than Great Places’ completion figures for the previous year posted in February, which blamed wet weather over the winter for causing on-site delays.
In a stock market update, the 25,500-home housing association reported a pre-tax surplus of £7m in the three months to the end of June, up 3% from £6.8m in the same period last year.
It said this was in line with its budgeted surplus and it had achieved all its internal financial “golden rules” around interest cover, gearing and operating margin.
Drawn debt, excluding bond and loan premiums and loan fees, was £652m, up £19m in the quarter due to £20m revolving credit facility loan drawdowns and a “small scheduled debt repayment”.
Cash held was £30m, with undrawn bank revolving credit facilities of £405m during the period.
Great Places’ overall satisfaction was 73.8% in June, while arrears stood at 4% for general needs only.
EBITDA MRI (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, major repairs included) cash interest cover stood at 171%, above the landlord’s target of 120%.
The landlord currently has 3,164 properties below an Energy Performance Certificate rating of Band C. It aims to reduce this number to 2,500 by the end of the year.
A total of 79% of Great Places properties have an up-to-date stock condition survey. It said it was on track for a year-end target of 85%. It will also launch an external programme involving around 2,000 surveys this year.
A full-year forecast will be reported to the board in September before Great Places prepares its 2025-26 budget.
In April, Great Places announced that it had secured £284m in debt finance to build new homes and improve existing stock.
In July, the housing association appointed a new chief executive. Alison Dean took over from Matthew Harrison, who stepped down after 10 years in the role.
Mr Harrison led the merger between Great Places and Equity Housing Group in 2020. He also oversaw the creation of Terra Nova, an in-house construction company.
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