Page 18 - Housing Solutions Annual Report
P. 18
Corporate Objectives & Our Own Value
for Money Performance Measures
As we celebrate 25 years, we are pleased to clearly understanding our resident characteristics,
report that considerable progress has been made helping more residents into work and expanding our
in positioning Housing Solutions as the housing apprenticeship programme.
provider of choice in the areas that we operate. We
have demonstrated that at a time of global crisis,
Housing Solutions is a robust and solid organisation Strong Corporate Foundation
which people have turned to in these uncertain
times. Our staff, and partner care providers, charities
and support agencies have continued to work
throughout the lockdown period and provide for all
the people living in our communities. G1 S&P
Our strategy remains the same, to meet local V1 A+
affordable housing needs by creating and
maintaining quality homes and delivering valued
services. We aim to provide long term sustainable
homes for local people living in Berkshire and the We are proud of our strong relationships with our
surrounding areas, where residents feel safe, and local authority partners, our stakeholders and the
satisfied with our service. Regulator. We work with our lenders to provide
new finance to continue to develop the new homes
Throughout the year we have continued to focus on desperately needed in our local communities.
staff and resident wellbeing, and we are delighted
to report that 90% of staff are happy working Following an external independent governance
for Housing Solutions and 83% of residents are review, carried out by Campbell Tickell, that
satisfied with our service. completed in 2019, an action plan was put in place
to strengthen our governance further.
We continue to enjoy strong local partnerships and
the confidence of the Regulator of Social Housing We have worked hard on enhancing areas our
and Homes England. governance and have made excellent progress
on the action plan, this was demonstrated on the
We are proud of being a G1 V1 Housing Provider and 13 November 2019 when the Regulator of Social
consistently providing more social and affordable Housing reaffirmed Housing Solutions at the highest
homes than most housing associations our size, regulatory grade of G1/V1.
while still maintaining a healthy financial position.
Almost 80% of our housing portfolio is dedicated In March 2020 Standard & Poors reconfirmed our
to social, affordable and supported rented A+ credit rating citing our solid EBITDA margins,
accommodation. very strong liquidity position and our asset quality.
Standard & Poors highlighted that our business
This year we invested in our governance framework profile is robust and commented that Housing
and we strengthened our finance and business Solutions will successfully deliver on its development
planning functions, putting Housing Solutions in an plans in a way that keeps its financial performance
even stronger position to deal with the challenges and debt burden stable. The credit rating is crucial
ahead.
in helping us to fund our core purpose of delivering
As a local housing provider, we generated more homes to meet local need.
£826,000 of social value. Our social impact is wide The Board views our medium- and long-term
ranging from getting residents into employment, business plan as a crucial part of its strategic
apprenticeships, supporting resident groups, staff
volunteering opportunities, and our innovative planning process, testing the financial health of
digital inclusion activity. our business, as well as our plans for the future.
The Business Plan is robustly stress tested and
At the same time, we have committed to developing challenged, in order to ascertain the effects against
our activities further, particularly with regards to our key lender covenants, turnover, EBITDA and
connecting residents with employment and support cash flow. We will be continuing to review and
opportunities, ensuring urban connectivity by update the plan quarterly for internal Board review
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