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Abri sets new delivery target and creates ‘home and place standard’
Large landlord Abri has set out its delivery ambitions in its 2026-31 corporate strategy, alongside plans to create a new ‘home and place standard’.
Abri sets new delivery target and creates ‘home and place standard’ #UKhousingUnder the new plan, the 58,000-home group aims to build a minimum of 1,000 homes a year, raising that number each year with the aim of doubling the contribution of new homes as quickly as conditions allow.
As a group, Abri reported 788 completions in its last financial year, which was a drop from 821 in the previous 12 months.
The landlord will create a ‘home and place standard’ that all new homes will meet by 2031. It believes this will go “beyond compliance and reflects customer experience, safety and environmental priorities”.
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On existing stock, Abri will invest more than £450m (inclusive of grant funding) in existing homes to improve quality, affordability, safety and efficiency by 2031. It will also spend a further £161m on major regeneration projects.
The new corporate strategy builds on its previous strategy, Achieving Together 2020-25, which saw the group invest £467m in improving existing homes and build more than 5,000 new homes.
During the lifetime of this strategy, Abri aims to become sector leading in customer service, with a focus on three core themes: ideal homes, ideal services and ideal organisation.
Gary Orr, group chief executive of Abri, said: “160 years ago, Octavia Hill championed the ideal that decent, affordable housing, coupled with respect and a sense of community, can transform lives.
“Shaped by these ideals, Abri came into being in 2020 with the ambition of becoming a top-performing housing association. Whilst we’ve performed strongly over the last six years, we know there’s much more to do.
“Abri’s new 2026-2031 corporate strategy builds on these strong foundations, and now as custodians of Octavia Hill’s legacy, outlines a set of ambitious commitments that will ensure we rise to the challenge of significantly increasing the supply of new homes and ensuring all our customers have an affordable and safe place to call home in a community where they can belong, grow and thrive.”
Abri’s 2026-31 corporate strategy was shaped through extensive consultation with customers, colleagues and key stakeholders.
Over the lifetime of the previous strategy, the group also saw significant growth thanks to two mergers, with Silva Homes joining in 2023 and Octavia Housing in 2024.
In October last year, Abri reported a drop in its operating margin by nearly a third after it acquired non-compliant London provider Octavia.
Around two months later, the group retained an A3 stable credit rating from Moody’s, which it said reflects the housing association’s “ongoing resilience”.
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