Annual turnover and surplus rise at Platform as development spend hit by contractor insolvencies
Platform has reported an increase in annual turnover and surplus, although delays on three schemes due to contractor insolvencies hit its development spending.
Platform has reported an increase in annual turnover and surplus, although delays on three schemes due to contractor insolvencies hit its development spending #UKhousingThe 50,000-home landlord’s development expenditure for the year to the end of March 2025 was down from £313.2m to £287.1m because of the insolvencies. However, all of these developments are now proceeding.
The housing association started 1,645 new affordable homes in the year and completed 1,028. A further eight commercial units are part of the new Holmer retirement village being delivered in Herefordshire.
Turnover increased by 11.1% to £374.4m. This was driven by growth in social housing lettings turnover, which increased by 9.3% to £299.7m.
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Operating surpluses including fixed asset sales increased by 15% to £104m, after adjusting for one-off pension cessation accounting charges.
After adjusting for these charges, interest cover was reported to be 124%, down from 162%.
The landlord explained that this year-on-year movement was driven by a planned increase in spending on existing homes, combined with increases in interest expense due to a bond issuance in April 2024. Investment in existing homes over the last financial year was up 58.6% to £62.5m.
Elizabeth Froude, chief executive of Platform, said: “As we close another year, the environment around us has remained difficult. Our results demonstrate an organisation that has worked hard to keep a grip on costs and continues to deliver on maintaining a financially strong organisation, generating a social housing lettings margin of 31.3%, whilst remaining committed to what will be a long journey to move all of our homes to net zero.
“We therefore show another outturn which increases the level of investment in existing homes by £23.1m (58.6%), a trend which is appropriate to commit to our customers, supporting the quality of their homes and the well-being of our communities, which is at the heart of what we do.
“The need for new homes remains a constant for us, as a country and a sector, and Platform has continued to commit to future homes delivery and successfully deliver on its targets for current delivery of new homes: this year completing over 1,000 new homes and starting 1,600 homes for future delivery.
“The demand for shared ownership homes remains strong in the Midlands, and our focus on affordable family homes helps this, as we continue to support those who want to live in the areas where they work and face affordability challenges.
“All of this said, we continue to be a stable and reliable borrower for those investing in Platform and continue to demonstrate some of the best financial metrics in the sector.”
Income from shared ownership first-tranche sales of £48.7m was £8m higher than the previous year, due to the timing of the development cycle.
Demand for these properties was described as “robust”. There were 526 shared ownership sales in the year to March, up from 418 in the previous year.
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