You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Notting Hill Genesis surplus cut after £74m private sales drop
Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) has seen its surplus slump by 38% due to a fall in private sale income, which fell by nearly £74m year-on-year.
In a trading update covering the six months to 30 September, the 55,000-home landlord saw its surplus hit £54.9m in the six months to September, down from £88.8m for the same period last year.
This was largely driven by a 41.5% drop in the money accrued from private sales, with the figure hitting £103.8m in the first half of this year, down from £177.5m for the same period last year.
The association noted that the previous year had seen a large number of sales at its Canada Water, Wooddene and Manor Place Depot schemes, which raised millions towards the surplus figure.
The drop in surplus was also attributed to a rise in operating costs from £190.2m for the first six months of last financial year, to £216.2m for the first six months of this year.
READ MORE
NHG also noted that an increase in costs related to write-offs of cladding on buildings as well as flood costs. Housing depreciation costs stood at £34.7m in the trading period, up from £25.7m in the previous year.
The trading update from the G15 housing association found that turnover dropped by £64.6m or 13.3% to £419.3m compared to the equivalent six months in 2020.
The association said that it had completed 683 new properties during the six months, compared to 442 in 2020.
Of these, 269 were built specifically for social or affordable rent, up from 81 in the previous year. An additional 36 homes had been delivered via stock transfers.
However, the overall number of homes in NHG’s development programme fell from 10,082 as of September 2020 to 8,921 in the latest results. Of those, 60% are designated as affordable or social tenures.
The provider also noted that it took advantage of the Bank of England’s COVID-19 financial assistance to reduce interest payments during the year.
It stated: “Net interest paid has decreased by 7.6% to £66.1m due to the reduction of drawn loans by £92.0m and the utilisation of the Bank of England Covid Corporate Financing Facility for approximately 18 months at a favourable rate.”
NHG also gave an update on the process of relocating 858 residents from the 1,059-home Paragon Estate in Hounslow, which was evacuated after intrusive fire safety inspections in October 2020 found issues so serious that the safety of residents could not be guaranteed.
The trading update said: “Following the evacuation of approximately 1,000 residents across the Paragon six-block residential development in west London in October 2020, we continue to monitor the situation carefully.
“Over the past year, we have endeavoured to rehouse all social tenants, either within our own stock or in suitable alternatives with other providers and to buy back leasehold/shared ownership interests.
“These activities continue; currently, we have more than 85% vacant possession and are reviewing future options.”
Sign up for our development and finance newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
