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Orbit ‘felt the impact’ of maintenance and safety costs in latest trading update
Large Midlands landlord Orbit has reported a fall in surplus, as it “felt the impact” of higher maintenance costs and put aside millions to fix safety issues.
Large Midlands landlord Orbit has reported a fall in surplus, as it “felt the impact” of higher maintenance costs and put aside millions to fix safety issues #UKhousingThe 47,000-home social landlord’s surplus for the year fell to £47.9m in the year that ended on 31 March 2025, down from £54.9m last year, although turnover and sales increased over the same period.
The group said its operating costs increased by 11.7%, to £238m, as a rise in maintenance costs squeezed its margin.
The higher costs reflected heavy investment in its stock, and Orbit said its margin was also affected by inflation across its cost base.
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Orbit sees surplus hit by reduced sales and interest costs as it ups spending on damp and mould workIt had to set aside £3.6m for remediation works, after a review of its complex buildings found the need for work to fix safety issues.
However, turnover was higher year on year, at £408m, driven by the annual statutory rent increase. Property sales generated £100m, thanks to a strong market for shared ownership.
The landlord increased overall sales by more than 30% this year, completing the sale of 391 properties in July to Legal & General Affordable Homes for nearly £35m.
In the year 2024-25, the landlord delivered 901 new homes, marginally under its target of 929 due to planning delays.
Of these, 399 were affordable rented properties and 382 were new shared ownership properties.
Orbit reported an investment of £149m in improving and maintaining its existing homes and made progress in improving the energy efficiency of its homes.
The landlord said 87.8% of its homes now had an Energy Performance Certificate rating of Band C or above, and work was well underway to complete energy-efficiency improvements on a further 347 properties under Wave 2.1 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
Last April, an independent review ordered by the Housing Ombudsman made 15 recommendations to Orbit for it to improve its damp and mould practices. In its report, the landlord said it had completed further work on embedding the review’s recommendations, and was building on the changes implemented the year before.
Last year, it experienced a 51% decrease in the number of damp and mould cases reported through its triage process, the report said.
However, during the course of last year, the landlord received a further nine severe maladministration findings from the ombudsman, spanning seven cases.
Orbit was named in the ombudsman’s report last September, which challenged eight landlords’ approach to moving residents temporarily.
In a statement included in the accounts, Phil Andrew, group chief executive of Orbit, said: “We have fully accepted the findings, apologised to our customers and complied with all orders issued, and remain resolute in our determination to learn from them and deliver further improvements to our customer experience.”
The landlord’s tenant satisfaction measures improvement slightly on last year, with overall satisfaction for renters at 65.6% and shared owners at 53.4%.
In the year, the landlord reaffirmed its A3 stable credit rating from Moody’s and its G1/V2 rating from the Regulator of Social Housing.
Last year, Orbit established a common board structure to streamline governance and align strategic oversight across the group. It appointed Stephen Jack as group chair and two Orbit customers, Maxwell Doku and Sayo Ogundayo, as non-executive directors.
Mr Andrew added: “We have had a strong start to our 2030 journey, making progress in all areas, alongside maintaining a healthy financial position.
“However, there is still a lot to do, and we must continue to work at pace, whilst maintaining our laser-focus on our customers’ properties and playing our part in helping to solve the UK’s housing crisis.”
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