Great Places posts rise in turnover after adding nearly 1,000 homes to portfolio

It delivered 726 new affordable homes which was higher than its target of 698, and sold 196 homes for shared ownership.

At the start of the new financial year, Great Places had 2,350 homes on site and over summer, it agreed £225m in new sustainability-linked loans to build more homes and improve its stock.

Overall operating margin was 23%, better than the sector median in previous years but below target due to "one-off items" during the financial year.

The association’s EBITDA MRI interest cover figure was 151.1%, up from 134.9% last year.

The landlord retained its G1/V2 status from the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) and secured a compliant C2 grading for its consumer standards.

The landlord’s credit rating with Moody’s was reaffirmed as A3 during the year, but its Fitch rating was downgraded from A+ to A.

Great Places said this was “not unexpected” given the challenging external economic environment but said its liquidity remained strong.

The landlord has seen changes in senior leadership, with new chief executive officer Alison Dean taking up the top job in July. 

Its board chair Mervyn Jones is stepping down this month and being replaced by Cath Purdy, while deputy chair Christine Amyes and chair of Cube Emma Mountford are also stepping down.

Mr Jones said that despite the “challenges” of the past 12 months, Great Places had seen significant achievements.

“We continue to work in a challenging operating environment with economic and regulatory pressures impacting the sector, our customers, our contractors, suppliers and colleagues.

“The impact of recent inflationary cost rises across supply chains and associated cost of living challenges facing our customers continues to be felt across our sector. Alongside the ongoing economic pressures, there has been continued high demand across a range of our services.”