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Surplus and turnover up at Yorkshire landlord as empty homes reduced to pre-pandemic levels
Yorkshire Housing has revealed an uptick in surplus and turnover in its latest trading update and has reduced the number of empty homes in its stock to pre-pandemic levels.
For the six months to 30 September this year, the Leeds-based landlord reported a £6m rise in operating surplus to £20.2m and a more than £5m rise in pre-tax surplus to £11.3m.
The 19,000-home landlord also revealed that it had “worked hard to reduce the number of empty homes and these are now at their lowest level since before the pandemic”.
Its development programme delivered 273 new homes during the first six months of this financial year.
The landlord admitted that it “had to flex our development programme to reflect economic reality”, but said it believes it is on track to achieve its overall target of 8,000 new homes by 2035.
Yorkshire Housing reported strong sales in shared ownership, with 123 first tranche sales, compared to 114 last year.
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Its market sales are also recovering, with 13 outright sales in the first six months compared to just one for the same period last year.
In its last full financial year, to the end of March 2024, it reported a 93% fall in the number of open market sale homes it sold due to a “difficult” housing market.
Andy Oldale, executive director of finance and governance, said: “Despite a challenging economic climate, Yorkshire Housing has delivered improved financial performance compared to the same period last year.
“Pressure on our costs continues, especially reactive repairs where we have seen a significant increase in cost in the first half of the year. This is clearly part of a sector-wide trend, however we are focused on improving our efficiency and in the process of implementing new systems to help reduce costs as well as working with our customers to reduce the number of reactive repairs.
“Although inflation is easing, our customers continue to face significant cost of living pressures. We work closely with them to help sustain tenancies and have seen no increase in the rate of arrears. Our money coaches have worked with 468 customers already this year, supporting them with their finances.
“We remain committed to being a sustainable organisation and have undertaken a range of activities to make us be more sustainable and reduce our carbon footprint. In particular, we have focused on improving the energy efficiency of our homes and 82% are now at a minimum EPC C level or above.”
The landlord currently has a regulatory grading of G1/V2 and a credit rating with Moody’s of A3 (stable).
Its EBITDA interest cover was within a few percentage points of the previous period at 138%, and its social housing lettings cover increased by more than 20 points to 111%. Gearing was broadly the same at 57%.
Mr Oldale added: “With good levels of liquidity we are well placed to deliver on our strategy and ensure as many customers as possible have a place they’re proud to call home.”
Nick Atkin, chief executive of Yorkshire Housing, recently spoke to Inside Housing about how he is shaping three emerging social housing partnerships that are crucial to the government’s plans to build more homes.
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