Peabody reports stable first six months of financial year despite completion delays

This meant that while these sales costs were included on the balance sheet, the receipts for the homes they corresponded to were not.

“While the completion of sales is progressing at a slower rate than hoped, we expect to see a gradual improvement in the second half of the current financial year and into the next,” the landlord said.

It invested £244m in its new homes programme during the half-year period and has 5,395 homes under construction, down slightly from last year’s total of 5,782.

Its starts on site in 2023-24 will be “substantially lower than in previous years” as it looks to prioritise its existing pipeline, it said.

The G15 landlord’s operating surplus remained broadly the same, dropping £1m to £130m, while turnover dipped by £3m to £486m.

Peabody’s overall surplus for the period fell by 17% to £34m and it reported an operating margin of 27% – the same as the previous year.

Investment in stock also stayed largely the same year on year at £97m, compared with £100m the previous year. This included £23m on building safety works.

Spending on repairs and maintenance was £9m higher at £93m.

In its annual accounts for 2023-24, Peabody more than doubled its spend on its existing stock, reaching a total of £374m.

Phil Day, chief financial officer at Peabody, said: “Our strong financial base continues to support capital investment in homes and places as well as in day-to-day spending to help our neighbourhood teams provide improved local services to residents.

“Our plan to spend £2bn over five years looking after and upgrading residents’ homes is on track.”

The landlord said it has made “good progress” so far on simplifying its operation and governance structures, as well as continuing to sell off non-core assets.

Peabody chief executive Ian McDermott was recently appointed to the board of the National Housing Federation.

Elly Hoult, chief operating officer and deputy chief executive at Peabody, has taken on the role of president of the Chartered Institute of Housing and launched a campaign encouraging people to choose housing as a career.