Regulator of Social Housing finds associations maintaining reinvestment of surplus into new and existing homes
Housing associations have continued to reinvest their operating surplus to improve existing homes and build new ones even in the face of economic challenges, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has said.
RSH asks housing associations to report annually on their performance against a range of ‘value for money’ metrics and publishes the results to allow boards and other stakeholders to assess how each housing association is performing against its peers.
The research and metrics cover all private registered providers of social housing, excluding for-profit private registered providers. It does not cover local authority registered providers.
The Value for money metrics and reporting for 2023 shows that last year housing associations:
- Invested £12.5 billion in new and existing homes (16% more than the previous year)
- Delivered more than 48,000 new social homes (up by 7%)
- Spent an average of over £4,500 on each social home (up by 14%) "as they continued to invest in repairs and maintenance and deliver their strategic priorities".
Median interest fell, as a result, to 128% (the lowest level since 2010) and RSH’s recent quarterly survey of housing associations’ finances indicated that the trend has continued into the current financial year.
Will Perry, Director of Strategy at RSH, commented that “Housing associations are grappling with a range of economic challenges while working to provide more and better social homes for people who need them.
"This creates competing pressures on their finances, and boards need to explain how they are allocating their resources and adding value. Our report allows stakeholders to scrutinise their landlord’s performance and hold them to account across a range of areas.”
Harry Rodd
