You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Large North West landlord sees surplus edge up, but misses completions target
Manchester-based Great Places Housing Group has seen its year-to-date surplus and turnover edge up, but it missed its completions target, which the landlord partially blamed on weather-related delays.
The 24,000-home association reported a surplus of £18.8m in the nine months to the end of December 2022, compared with £16.5m in the same period last year. The figure was above its budgeted target of £18m.
Turnover rose 1% year-on-year to £119.4m.
However, on completions, Great Places reported 365 handovers in the nine months against a target of 485. The figure was also marginally down on the same period last year, which saw 388 homes completed.
The landlord said this was hampered by delays around highways adoption, delivery of kitchens, services and substation works, and cold weather in December, which affected brickwork and had a knock-on effect on roofing and plastering.
READ MORE
Great Places was among the sector’s top 30 biggest builders in its last full year, completing 627 homes, according to Inside Housing research.
The landlord is expecting 670 completions in its current year, down from a target of 773, a spokesperson told Inside Housing.
Helen Spencer, executive director of growth at Great Places, said: “Despite recent challenges, our affordable development programme has over 1,800 homes in build at present with new homes being handed over to our customers at an average of over 55 each month."
She added the group has a "strong pipeline of opportunities" to help hit its 10-year target of delivering 11,000 new homes by the end of the decade.
Elsewhere, Great Places said sales of its shared ownership and market sale homes had been “strong”, particularly during December, which had offset lost rental income from delayed development handovers.
Operating costs were also £1.2m higher than budgeted, mainly due to repairs and maintenance costs, the association said.
Great Places was among a wave of housing associations downgraded to a V2 rating for financial viability by the English regulator late last year due to the current economic landscape.
In particular, the Regulator of Social Housing highlighted Great Places’ plan to “significantly” increase its debt to fund development and its “financial exposure to the housing market”.
However, the landlord kept its G1 rating for governance.
Earlier this month, Moody’s lowered its baseline credit assessment for Great Places, although the association retained its overall A3 credit rating.
The landlord’s year-to-date results revealed that drawn debt at December 2022 was £644.3m, down slightly on the same point last year. Current available undrawn facilities stand at £143.8m, it said.
Great Places is in the process of merging with its smaller Manchester neighbour Mosscare St Vincent’s, having announced plans in October.
At the time, the landlords said the tie-up is expected to complete by July this year if plans “progress satisfactorily”.
Sign up for our development and finance newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
Sign up to the Social Housing Finance Conference 2023
Join us at the Social Housing Finance Conference, recognised as the longest-standing UK-wide, one-day event of its kind. It brings together over 350 sector leaders, and senior finance and treasury professionals from housing associations and local authorities to discuss the strategic, operational and technical finance matters of most importance.
Click here to find out more and book your delegate pass.
