Landlords see largest rise in affordable rent stock under THFC’s Blend portfolio

In 2023, data from the Regulator of Social Housing revealed that on average affordable rented homes were 30% more expensive for tenants, though there were large variations between areas and property sizes.

In line with the rest of the sector, just under 10% of existing homes provided by housing associations with the Blend fund as of March 2024 were let at affordable rent.

Of these nearly 460,000 homes, two in three were general needs social rent, while just 7.5% were low-cost homeownership.

The data comes from the fund’s Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) report, a survey of the providers that borrowed through it in the 2024-25 financial year.

The poll of landlords also showed they are doing more work to improve the energy efficiency of homes.

The number of new builds achieving Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) A doubled within a year, and landlords carried out four times as many retrofits compared with two years ago.

But a quarter of the stock is still below EPC C, with just four years to go before the deadline for the sector to achieve this rating or above.

Overall, landlords delivered 14,000 new homes in 2024-25, up 27% on the previous year.

It was not clear from the report how many of these were new builds and how many were acquisitions, or the tenure breakdown for these additions.

Priya Nair, chief executive of THFC, said: “Blend was created to provide housing associations with efficient access to long-term capital. It is encouraging to see the platform continue to grow while supporting the delivery of sustainable, affordable homes across the UK.

“This year’s SRS report shows how that finance is translating into real impact, from thousands of new homes delivered, to steady improvements in energy efficiency and climate strategies across the sector.

“By connecting capital markets with housing providers, we are helping to support resilient communities while contributing to the long-term sustainability of the UK’s social housing stock.”

A link to the full report can be found here.