Stonewater sees surplus fall by 43%

In the accounts, Stonewater explained that this was the result of the early termination of £30m of interest rate swaps, resulting in the loss of £10.7m.

Interest rate swaps are derivative financial products used to hedge against the risk of changing interest rates.

In the year, Stonewater made 89% of its turnover from social housing lettings, exactly the same percentage it recorded in the previous year.

Stonewater’s accounts also gave more details on its new procurement strategy, a three-year plan that aims to make £2.35m of savings.

It has already gone live with its new contracts for the South East and South West of England, making a total saving from these of 20%, according to the accounts.

Over the year, Stonewater built 548 homes, slightly down on the previous year’s figure of 612, but still hopes to increase its programme to reach 1,500 homes a year from 2022/23.

Of the homes built last year, 340 were for affordable rent, social rent and Rent to Buy, while 208 were for shared ownership.

In his statement for the accounts, chief executive Nicholas Harris wrote: “Stonewater continues to prove itself to be a strong and agile organisation, embedding our place as one of the UK’s leading social housing providers.

“Our statement of financial position remains robust, our staff agile and our growth plans significant and ambitious. This resilience and adaptability puts us in a strong position to predict and respond to our evolving social and political landscape, so we can successfully move with these fast-changing times.”