Operating surplus and interest cover drops at Platform Housing

Platform Housing Group has reported a drop in operating surplus and interest cover on flat turnover.

In a trading statement for the quarter to June 2025, the group reported turnover of £92.3m, which was exactly the same as in the equivalent period the year prior.

Within this, social housing lettings turnover grew 6.6% to £78.7m, while shared ownership sales turnover of £6.7m was almost half that recorded the year prior.

The 49,000-home association said this was “due to timing, with lower numbers of newly developed homes being completed for shared ownership sale” and that demand “remains strong”.

Operating surplus was down 11.5% to £21.5m from £24.3m, with the figure “affected by the timing of maintenance activity, which was accelerated in quarter one to enhance the quality of homes”.  

“This acceleration is a feature of the first quarter, with no plans to accelerate further over the remainder of the year,” the group said

Interest cover also dropped by 29 points from 168% to 139%, which the provider said was “largely driven by an increase in investment into existing homes”.

Platform completed 260 new homes in the period, all of which were affordable. This was up 6.6% from the 244 built in the same quarter the year before.

In the quarter, the group benefited from an additional grant of £20m from the current AHP.

>> Read more: Sage Homes appoints Platform’s Elizabeth Froude as CEO

Elizabeth Froude, Platform’s chief executive, is set to depart the organisation early next year to join Blackstone-backed for-profit Sage.

“It was a difficult decision to leave an organisation I have been so wholly involved in building and will always remain proud of,” she said. 

“I saw this as a moment in time opportunity to find ways to build on the strengths of the For-Profit and Not-For-Profit sectors combined, to help deliver a strong social landlord and support the Government’s agenda and need for a real step-up in house building.”

She said that, as a result of her move, the board had extended the tenure of chairman John Weguelin by up to a year and asked chief finance officer, Rosemary Farrar, to defer her previously agreed departure to the end of 2026.  

“This should give investors assurance that the management and stability at Platform will be protected in the transition,” said Froude.

“Our report for quarter one shows a growth in rental income above that of base rent inflation due to the delivery of new homes, crystallising as additional rent,” she continued, addressing Platform’s results. 

“On top of that, we continue to see a strong market for shared ownership and existing owners staircasing to higher ownership levels, which complements our core rental income.

“Our investment expenditures, whilst higher than last year, reflect the early mobilisation of our programme for the year and are not anticipated to be reflected in our full year performance.”

Platform’s trading update also set out the actions it had taken following the sanctioning of Tri Fire by the Institute of Fire Engineers.

Five of the provider’s high rises had been subject to survey by Tri Fire, and following initial reviews of each of these buildings, Platform found that three in Worcester were found to not fully meet building safety standards and required some mitigations in order to maintain the existing ‘stay put’ policy in the event of fire.  

“These mitigations have been put in place and both our independent fire safety experts and Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority have confirmed that the buildings remain safe to live in.  All customers have been informed about the re-assessments,” the group said.

It said it was “currently working with Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority and independent experts to understand what will be required to bring our buildings up to the most modern safety standards, with findings expected in the coming months”.  

It also plans to re-review some low and mid-rise buildings which were also assessed by Tri Fire.