Revenue and operating surplus stable as organisation increases spend on existing stock
Sanctuary’s completions in the first half of the year fell 42%, according to an unaudited trading update.
The 125,000-home provider said it completed 287 homes in the six months to 30 September, down from 493 in the same period the previous year. Its homes on site and in development also fell from 3,493 to 2,892 over the same period.
The group in the summer announced a target of 935 completions in 2025/26, which would be an increase on the 881 recorded in 2024/25.
The update issued on Friday afternoon showed revenue was similar to last year’s figure, rising slightly from £592.3m to £592.7m. Operating surplus rose 8% from £107.4m to £116.2m, with its group underlying operating margin rising from 17.7% to 19%. Its EBITDA MRI Interest cover also increased, from 133.6% to £138.9%
Sanctuary stepped up its spend on existing homes in the half-year. It invested £32m in improving homes in the six months, compared to £29.8m in the same period the previous year.
The group’s sales revenue, including shared ownership, fell from £56.2m to £29.2m, but the provider said the previous period’s figure was inflated by a bulk sale of 66 homes to Swan.
Sanctuary in the summer announced a plan to sell around 2,000 homes in the 2025/26 financial year to release capital for reinvestment. Last month, Housing Today revealed the provider is consulting on selling 300 homes to for-profit provider MTD, which is owned by property firm William Pears.
Ed Lunts, chief financial officer at Sanctuary, said: “Robust revenue from improved occupancy coupled with efficiencies and lower utility costs have ensured divisional EBITDA, operating margin and interest cover are all improved compared to the equivalent period last year.
“We have maintained our focus on repairs performance and reinvestment across our homes. This ongoing investment reflects our continued focus on providing our customers with homes that are safe and of a high quality.”
Sanctuary was ranked the biggest housing association by turnover in Housing Today’s Largest 50 Housing Association list published last month.
Largest 50 Housing Assocations 2025
For the first time and within less than two months since all the data was made public, Housing Today has published a full sortable table of the largest 50 housing associations in the UK according to their 2024/25 accounts.
Our interactive data table allows you to sort the providers by turnover, surplus, operating surplus, homes completed and homes owned and/or managed
We’ve analysed providers’ turnover, surplus, operating surplus, homes completed and homes owned and/or managed for the 2024/25 financial year.
Housing Today has dug into the data to show aggregated trends and which providers have shown the largest changes in their metrics year-on-year and why.
We’ve also pulled out key trends and talking points we’ve noticed from our reporting of financial statements over the past few months. Also find all our reports of HA accounts in one alphabeticised library. See below.
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