Housing associations step up spend on existing homes, latest quarterly survey reveals

Registered providers have increased their spend on improvements to existing homes 10% year-on-year, according to the Regulator of Social Housing (the RSH).

The RSH’s latest quarterly survey of 198 providers shows landlords’ spent £9.3bn on repairs and maintenance in the year to 30 September, up from £8.4bn for the same period the previous year.

Forecast 12-month spend on repairs and maintenance also increased from £10.3bn to £10.4bn.

The data shows providers spend on development of new homes fell from £13.7bn to £13.2bn. Forecast 12-month spend has increased slightly from £10.3 billion to £10.4 billion, which RSH said was due to “underspends in the current quarter being re-profiled into future periods.”

Will Perry, director of strategy at RSH, said many landlords will be “looking to revisit development projections” following funding announcements in recent months. The June spending review confirmed a £39bn, 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme.  

He said: “While ongoing spending pressures continue to impact financial performance, the sector remains resilient and liquidity is strong.

“Many landlords are delivering the dual ambition of more and better homes, in part thanks to the robust pipeline of private investment into the sector.”

RSH said cash interest cover (excluding sales) in the year to September dropped to 78%, compared to 81% in the year to June. RSH said this is expected to remain constrained, with the sector’s forecast interest cover projected to total 67% over the next year. Interest cover measures debt to earnings and is used as a measure of financial capacity.

The survey shows available cash increased by 4% to £3.6bn quarter-on-quarter but remains at historically low levels. Cash is forecast to reduce to £2.7 billion by the end of September 2026, with over three in four RPs forecasting cash levels to reduce.

RSH said total available liquidity of £34.5 billion remains sufficient to cover forecast expenditure on net interest costs (£4.9 billion), loan repayments (£3.3 billion) and net development (£12.2 billion) for the next year.