Metropolitan Thames Valley cuts back on development as it ‘weighs priorities’

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing’s (MTVH) build rate has dropped 8% as it made “difficult decisions” over spending, it has said.

The 57,000-home housing association, in its financial statements, said it completed 657 homes in the 2022/23 financial year, narrowly missing its lowered target of 664 homes.

The figure of 657 is an 8% drop on the 712 homes completed the previous year and a 28% fall on the 923 completed in 2020/21.

Althea Efunshile, chair of MTVH, said rising inflation has pushed up costs for construction and parts for planned works, while interest rates have made borrowing costly.

She said: “These trends have forced us to weigh priorities carefully, resulting in some difficult decisions. Although we have continued to build new homes, once again we have not invested as much as we would have liked in this area.”

MTVH’s pipeline stood at 3,858 as of March, down on 5,527 the previous year.

MTVH nevertheless invested £199m in acquiring land and building new homes, which is a 24% increase on the £161m allocated the previous year. The G15 landlord has set a higher target of 887 completions in 2023/24.

The association maintained its spending on existing stock at the same level as last year at around £138m.

Its turnover fell 6% from £414m to £388m, while its surplus fell 18% to £40m.

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The association said it has made a “strategic decision” to reduce sales volumes and exposure to retain its “attractiveness to investors.”

Its home sales income for the year nearly halved from £59m to £30m, while shared ownership revenue fell from £42m to £26m.