Housing Associations Meet the Challenge

Housing Associations Meet the Challenge

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Despite the deepest recession in recent memory, the combined accounts of Welsh housing associations show that the sector has established a sound basis to continue investing in homes and communities into the future - by doing so making a significant impact on the social, economic and physical characteristics of Wales.

The accounts co-produced by Community Housing Cymru and the Welsh Assembly Government indicate that:

· The sector’s homes have increased to just over 122,000.

· Turnover for both traditional and LSVT (Large scale voluntary transfer) associations has increased and their balance sheets have continued to grow – total turnover was £434m in 2009.

· Debt increased to £1.1billion.

In 2009, associations were not only increasingly diverse in terms of the number of homes they owned and managed, but also in their origin and the range of activities carried out. This report is testimony to real delivery on the ground by the social housing sector during this difficult economic period.

Peter Cahill, Chair of Community Housing Cymru said: "This is the third report on the financial performance of the social housing sector in Wales. Housing associations are social enterprises which make a significant impact in Wales and the new freedoms and flexibility offered by the Essex reforms are likely to see new areas of investment by the sector as activity diversifies."

In the foreword, Jocelyn Davies AM, Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration said, "the evolving partnership work between the Welsh Assembly Government and the social housing sector in Wales is delivering tangible results. These achievements would not have been possible without the sector’s robust financial position as evidenced in this report."

Notes to Editors:

This report includes information based on returns compiled from the audited financial statements of 32 associations who own the majority of homes in the sector and who carry out its development activity.

Large scale voluntary transfer(LSVTs) organisations are not for profit organisations set up as a result of the local authority transferring their housing stock to this new organisation.

The report includes information from eight LSVTs. The significant driver for the creation of these LSVTs is the need to meet the Welsh Assembly Government’s Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS) by 2012. Over 40% of homes in the Welsh housing association sector are now owned by LSVTs.