TIDM15HG
RNS Number : 2749S
Great Places Housing Group Limited
12 November 2021
QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE UPDATE
This update covers performance for the quarter ending 30
September 2021
Great Places is rated G1/V1 by the Regulator of Social Housing
(RSH)
Our Performance Updates are aimed at ensuring our investors and
other stakeholders receive regular, timely information regarding
the performance of the Group. We will publish these reports on a
quarterly basis and will produce them within six weeks of the
relevant quarter end.
The information included is based on unaudited management
accounts and other internal performance measures.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: QUARTER TWO RESULTS
The management accounts of Great Places Housing Group (the
Group) show year to date surplus of GBP11.1m, GBP0.4m better than
budget. Turnover in the period (including 1(st) tranche and
outright property sales) was GBP78.7m and operating surplus was
GBP23.9m. There was GBP0.7m less rental and other income; GBP0.9m
more surplus on property sales (including fixed asset sales); and
GBP0.2m less operating expenditure. Lower income is mainly due to
the timing of development handovers, plus some temporary voids due
to building safety works and sustainability reviews. Higher
property sales mainly relates to staircasings, Right To Acquires
and sales to other RPs. Operating expenditure was a mix of higher
Repairs and Maintenance and Major Repairs spend, offset by better
bad debt expenditure and lower overheads.
Drawn debt (excluding bond premium, fair value adjustments and
loan fees and including finance leases) as at September 2021 was
GBP660.1m (March 2021: GBP661.1m): the movement is due to scheduled
loan repayments.
The Group's Mark to Market exposure at the end of quarter two
was GBP38.4m (March 2021: GBP41.9m). There was GBP21.6m cash
collateral posted to meet counterparties' security requirements
(March 2021: GBP21.1m).
Cash balance (excluding cash held on behalf of leaseholders) was
GBP129.1m at the end of quarter two, (March 2021: GBP135.4m).
Undrawn bank facilities immediately available were GBP128.7m, of
which GBP120.8m is fully secured.
Our internal financial "Golden Rules" around interest cover,
gearing and operating margin were all met at the end of the
period.
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Our performance management centres around our Critical Success
Factors ("CSFs") which are designed to focus us on the delivery of
our Corporate Plan, and particularly our vision of "Great Homes,
Great Communities, Great People". We have eleven CSFs for 2021/22,
set in March 2021.
CSFs on track or better than target: Higher Risk Building
Safety, % Digitally Active Tenants; Average Re-Let Time; Households
into Work, Training & Volunteering; Current Arrears; Colleague
engagement; Group Surplus; and Data Completeness.
-- Higher risk buildings: we identified buildings that require
an intrusive survey and possible consequential work to be
completed. The target for this year is to complete 12 surveys: four
surveys were completed by quarter two, nine more have works in
progress and we are in the planning stage for two more.
-- 44.7% of customers were classed as being digitally active
(current tenants where 50% or more of their contacts over the last
12 months were digital), with a target of 45.0% by year end.
-- Average re-let time of just 18.2 days is better than (lower
than) the stretch target of 21.0 days.
-- Households into Work, Training & Volunteering: so far
this year the Community Investment Team have supported 380
customers into such opportunities, CSF target 375.
-- Arrears at the end of September were 4.2%, representing
GBP3.28 million, and better than (lower than) the CSF target of
4.5%.
-- Colleague Engagement achieved 82%, better than the stretch target of 80%.
Whist CSF performance during quarter two has been mainly
positive, these are three areas where we have early warnings around
performance against our targets.
252 Development Completions in the year to date (CSF September
target: 350). The current situation, which is reflective across the
sector, has delivery challenges particularly with labour,
materials, approvals and land registration. We're working closely
with our contractors across our sites to try ensure we maximise our
completions in a timely manner while maintaining quality.
Customer satisfaction was 7.0/10 at the end of September, below
the CSF target of 7.3/10. The decrease is consistent with the
Institute of Customer Service's latest UK Satisfaction Index for
the Public Services (Local), where 34.1% of respondents scored
customer service in the sector lower because of changes during the
Covid-19 pandemic. Communication with colleagues, who we thank for
their continued efforts, has focused on customer satisfaction and
we are pleased to see the score improved in the month of
September.
Average days sickness per employee in September was 9.0 days
(CSF target 8.6 days). We do expect to see this higher instance of
short term absence increase over the autumn and winter months, with
more seasonal illnesses due to reduced population immunity
following the lockdowns during last winter. We have launched our
annual 'flu jab offer to colleagues to support them to keep
themselves safe and well over Winter.
CORPORATE NEWS
These stories illustrate some of our recent activities,
particularly in terms of Environmental, Social and Governance.
Great Places Sustainability Report 2021 has been published
Great Places is an early adopter of an Housing Association
industry-led sustainability reporting standard designed to unlock
institutional investment to help tackle the UK's deepening housing
crisis. The aim of the standard is to provide a voluntary reporting
framework for housing providers to report on their ESG performance
in a transparent, consistent and comparable way. This will make it
easier for lenders and investors to assess the ESG performance of
housing providers and identify ESG risks and opportunities that
will create positive social and environmental outcomes. Lenders and
investors, including Lloyds Bank, LGIM Real Assets, M&G and
NatWest, have agreed to use the standard in their investment and
credit policies, processes and/or product design. As part of our
commitment to the new standard from 2021 we will report against the
standard annually. The report highlights the work we are doing as
an organisation in relation to standards 48 criteria, covering ESG
considerations such as affordability, fire safety and net zero
carbon emissions.
View our Sustainability Report 2021
ENVIRONMENTAL
Energy Efficiency actions
Great Places has targeted homes without an EPC to ensure we have
good data on energy performance and to give us the ability to
prioritise our worst performing homes. We are undertaking a
programme of loft and cavity wall insulation to improve energy
efficiency.
We installed a 70 kwh peak photovoltaic panel system on our Head
Office to reduce our reliance on grid electricity and replaced the
air conditioning units to more efficient models to reduce our
carbon footprint.
Increasing green space and promoting bio-diversity
The profile of green spaces and bio-diversity has been
increasing for a number of years and Great Places have commenced
work to ensure our communities have green spaces and we enhance the
bio-diversity in these areas. We are introducing and sustaining
wild flower meadows across our schemes. This has been highlighted
in new developments within Sheffield and at our Park Hill
development in the city. Plans are also underway to identify and
create landscape improvements retrospectively to older schemes to
re-establish and increase green spaces. Great Places has also
introduced a new tree policy, where we encourage the sustainability
of healthy trees with a robust tree management programme. Where
possible we are looking to replace any trees felled with new
saplings. In addition, our work with partners such as Cheshire
Green Waste has meant we can recycle our green waste into compost
and introduce this back into green spaces.
SOCIAL
Andy Burnham opens Northmoor's brand new community Hub
In July 2021 the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham joined
our Chief Executive Matthew Harrison, local councillors and guests
to officially open a new Community Hub in our Northmoor Anchor
Neighbourhood in the Longsight area of Manchester. It is in the
iconic, Grade II listed building in the heart of Northmoor, a
building with three retail units, 19 residential apartments and the
much-loved Northmoor Community Centre. The building, owned by Great
Places, has recently been refurbished at a cost of GBP0.4m to
restore most of the stunning original features of the space. The
refurbishment took around six months, seeing significant
improvements made to the shops.
The Hub community facility will be used by the Northmoor
Community Association (NCA) to deliver an extensive range of advice
and online courses for local people, including the Next Step
project, and features a community café, internet and printing
services, information station and a library. The Hub services are
complemented by the work of the Northmoor Community Centre which
has been working with local residents for more than 20 years.
Great Places Social Impact Report 2020/2021
Social purpose is at the heart of everything Great Places do and
over the last year our Community Investment Team has provided a
range of support to those customers who were impacted hardest by
the Pandemic, alongside maintaining delivery of projects,
initiatives and services that make a positive difference to
customers and improve lives over the longer term. Our Social Impact
Report 2020/21 takes a look back over the last year and contains
stories from our customers and our partner organisations about the
work we have been doing to make a positive difference for our
customers and our communities.
View our Social Impact Report 2020/21 here
Finalists in the CIH North Awards: Greater Manchester Housing
First and the GREATER Together culture project
Great Places is celebrating a double awards success as Great
Places and Greater Manchester Housing First (GMHF) have both been
selected as finalists in the CIH North Awards. Great Places has
been shortlisted in the Excellence in Cultural Change and
Transitioning category for our GREATER Together culture project,
while GMHF has made the shortlist in the Housing Team of the Year
category. The results will be announced at an awards ceremony in
Gateshead on 18 November.
Customer campaign launched to prevent condensation and mould
To help our customers prevent condensation in their home Great
Places has launched a campaign with tips to keep homes
moisture-free. The campaign featuring the character Detective Damp
will aim to support customers to take practical steps to reduce
condensation in their homes and to prevent damp and mould from
occurring and who to contact if further support is needed.
GOVERNANCE
Great Places Housing Group announced as new Homes England
strategic partner
At the beginning of September, Great Places Housing Group
received the notification that it had been successful in its bid to
become a new Homes England strategic partner. The GBP240.8m of
funding that will be received will enable Great Places to develop
4,920 grant-funded homes across the North by 2028. This
announcement builds on Great Places' excellent delivery success
which has seen a high volume of new homes built by the organisation
over the past few years, including through the first wave of Homes
England strategic partnerships, which began in 2018. The new
strategic partnership fits with the organisation's growth ambitions
and provides real certainty of funding to enable future delivery of
new homes at scale. Alongside the strategic partnership with Homes
England, Great Places will also continue to deliver its new homes
with a wide range of partners.
Annual Report and Financial Statements for Year Ending 31st
March 2021
At the AGM of Great Places Housing Group Limited ("Great
Places") on 16th September 2021, the shareholders agreed and
adopted the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year
ending 31st March 2021.
View our Financial Statements
View our Annual Report 2021
View our latest London Stock Exchange Regulatory News Service
(RNS) Announcement for our Annual Financial Accounts and Annual
Report
Great places appoints three new Board members
Great Places Housing Group has appointed three new members to
their Board, effective from 16 September 2021. With experience
working in the public sector and social housing, Nahim Ruhi-Khan
will serve as a member of the Audit & Assurance Committee
alongside Patrick Ricketts who has a wealth of business experience
following more than 26 years at Berendsen. Sandra Palmer joined the
Remuneration & Appraisal Committee, following several years of
experience as a Director in both the private and Government funded
sectors.
Building Great Places near Manchester city area
Manchester City Council has approved planning on two of our
developments which are part of the next phase of regeneration in
Ancoats and in New Islington, both close to Manchester city centre.
They are 68 affordable homes on a two acre site of vacant land
behind Downley Drive and Kingham Drive and the redevelopment of the
Grade two listed Ancoats Dispensary into a mixture of 39 one and
two bed apartments for affordable rent. The plans for the iconic
former hospital look to protect the heritage and legacy of the
building and incorporate elements of what remains the Dispensary
while providing much-needed affordable homes in the area.
In November our Chief Executive Matthew Harrison and Executive
Director Alison Dean were joined by Kate Henderson, Chief Executive
of the National Housing Federation, for a walk around New Islington
and Ancoats to see first-hand Great Places' involvement in
transforming the area. As well as discussing issues affecting the
sector, Matthew and Alison also shared our aspirations for growth
at #VictoriaNorth where we have been chosen as one of three
Registered Providers to deliver some of the proposed 5000
affordable new homes.
31 new homes in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire
Ribble Valley Mayor Tony Austin, with Great Places' Chief
Executive Matthew Harrison and guests, recently officially opened
Phase 3 of our Petre Wood development in Langho, Ribble Valley,
Lancashire. It features 31 affordable two and three-bedroom houses
and bungalows for shared ownership and rent in the heart of the
countryside. It provides housing for eligible residents in a rural
area where affordable homes are scare.
98 new homes in Maple Mill, Oldham
Great Places and Developer MCI Developments, part of Keepmoat
Homes, are starting work on the site of a former mill in
Hathershaw, Oldham, following planning approval in June. The GBP14
million Maple Mill scheme of 98 homes will be a mixture of two,
three and four-bedroom houses with gardens and parking, and
one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments for affordable rent. Work is
due to take around two years. The development will transform this
brownfield site with great transport links to Oldham city centre
and beyond, delivering much needed affordable new homes and
ensuring the development is a major social benefit to the residents
in Hathershaw.
Hive Homes breaks ground at 48 home residential scheme in
Middleton
Local councillors recently joined teams from Great Places' joint
venture company Hive Homes and Seddon on a site visit to mark the
official start on site of Hive's landmark 48-home development
Osprey Place in Middleton. The development on Stainton Drive in
Middleton will offer a mix of 48 two, three and four bedroom homes
for sale. This is the first site for Hive Homes with a second site
also planned for a 14-acre former Car Craft site on Nixon Street in
Castleton. Hive Homes is backed by Great Places and 9 of the
region's leading housing associations and the Greater Manchester
Combined Authority (GMCA). Profits generated from its development
activity will be ring-fenced and recycled by the ten housing
providers back into delivering affordable housing across Greater
Manchester.
FEEDBACK
We welcome feedback on our performance update. Please contact
Phil Elvy, Executive Director of Finance, at
communications@greatplaces.org.uk
The information included within this report is for information
purposes only. The Financial results quoted are unaudited. The
report may contain forward looking statements and actual outcomes
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END
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