MTVH returns to surplus after shared ownership sales boost

MTVH’s bottom line was helped by an 8% rise in group turnover, to £453.7m, in the latest year. Revenue from first-tranche shared ownership sales increased by 25% to £37.5m. 

Overall, the landlord sold 289 new homes, up from 287 the year before, but a breakdown between shared ownership and open market sales was not disclosed.

Rent and service charge income rose by 9%, to £381m, driven by the maximum allowable rent increase of 7.7% being applied.

However, revenue growth was offset by a £9.3m increase in operating costs to £328.4m. A 5% pay rise for staff, higher contractor costs and spending on a “repairs and compliance solution” accounted for the increase, MTVH said.

Like many landlords, the group is also upping its spending on repairs and maintenance in the face of greater scrutiny of social housing conditions. In 2024-25, it spent £165m, up from £149m the year before.

“Fire safety and damp and mould works have increased investment to our existing homes,” MTVH said.

“This is a sector issue. The longer-term impact of remediation obligations has led to a reduction in our capacity to develop new homes, particularly homes for sale.”

As a result, MTVH completed 544 homes in the latest year, which was a 39% drop on the previous year’s figure. However, it still has 4,970 homes in its five-year development pipeline and is targeting 1,000 completions a year.

The group reported an operating margin of 30% compared with 4% the previous financial year.

It reported £723m of available liquidity, a drop from £846m at the same point last year.

Debt at year-end had risen to £2.2bn, up from £1.9bn, the filing said.

Last week, MTVH was downgraded to a G2 by the regulator, partly over “weaknesses” in its approach to stress-testing. The landlord was also handed a C2 for consumer standards, as the regulator raised concerns about how it dealt with tenants facing building safety issues. MTVH retained its V2 status.

In February, it was announced that Ian Johnson, the group’s long-serving chief financial officer, was stepping down after 10 years in the job.

MTVH said today that it expected to announce his replacement by the end of this month, as the recruitment process was “well advanced”.