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Peabody ploughs further £33m into fire safety work
Large G15 landlord Peabody has called building and fire safety its “greatest risk” after ploughing an extra £33m into work to improve fire safety in its blocks, its annual results show.
Large G15 landlord Peabody has called building and fire safety its “greatest risk” after ploughing an extra £33m into work to improve fire safety in its blocks, its annual results show #UKhousingThe figure, which was revealed in its annual report for the year to 31 March 2021, added to the £30m the association spent on fire safety last year and brought the cumulative spend on building safety in the past three years to £84m.
Commenting on the figure, the accounts said: “The building and fire safety risk is currently our most significant group risk but we also acknowledge that we are risk averse in this area, and therefore there is much to do going forward to further mitigate and manage this risk.”
Peabody has some 67,331 homes – and 155,000 residents – in London and the South East, up slightly from 66,364 properties a year earlier.
However, these numbers could expand further by next year, as the association has revealed that it is in merger talks with fellow G15 member Catalyst.
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The operating margin was up one percentage point at 31%.
Total turnover was £630m, of which £139m came from social housing activities, against £662m the previous year.
Peabody invested a total of £304m in new homes, £90m in existing homes and £8m in the Peabody Community Foundation.
Peabody said its development pipeline stood at £1.4bn and it expected to have started 7,000 new affordable homes in London by 2023.
It completed 1,176 homes – a 12% increase on the previous year – with 88% being for affordable tenures.
The group’s credit ratings of A (stable) from Standard & Poor’s and A3 (stable) from Moody’s were reaffirmed during the year.
Chief financial officer Eamonn Hughes said: “This is a strong financial performance for Peabody which demonstrates the organisation’s ability to manage the unprecedented economic and social headwinds over the last 12 months.
“We continued to prioritise investment in the safety and well-being of our existing residents and communities and in providing more genuinely affordable homes to help meet the need for more social housing.
“Peabody has nearly 160 years of history, experience and expertise.”
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