TIDM57UT
RNS Number : 6008L
Grand Union Group Funding PLC
06 September 2023
A full detailed PDF version can be located here:
https://guhg.link/AR22-23
Grand Union Housing Group
Annual report and financial statements
for the year ended 31 March 2023
Grand Union Housing Group Limited Registered office: K2, Timbold
Drive, Kents Hill, Milton Keynes, Bucks MK7 6BZ Grand Union Housing
Group Limited is a Charitable Community Benefit Society registered
in England & Wales No. 7853, regulated by the Regulator of
Social Housing No. 5060, and is a member of the National Housing
Federation.
The Board, Executive Officers and Advisors 1
Statement from the Chair 2
Statement from the Group Chief Executive 3
Strategic Report 4 - 44
Board Report 45 - 46
Independent Auditor's Report 47 - 50
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income 51
Association Statement of Comprehensive Income 52
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 53
Association Statement of Financial Position 54
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Reserves 55
Association Statement of Changes in Reserves 56
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 57
Notes to the Financial Statements 58 - 91
Chair
Steve Benson (appointed 1 April 2023)
Colin Dennis (appointed as Chair-Designate 1 July 2022 and as
Chair from 30 September 2022, resigned 24 November 2022)
James Macmillan (resigned 30 September 2022)
Board Members
Gillian Walton, Senior Independent Director (Vice Chair from 28
October 2022 - 1 May 2023)
Richard Broomfield (resigned 9 September 2022)
John Edwards
Brent O'Halloran
Peter Fielder (appointed interim Chair 24 November 2022 - 1
April 2023, Vice Chair from 1 May 2023)
Dave Willis
Craig Thornton
Kalwant Grewal
Kevin Gould
Nannette Sakyi (appointed 1 April 2022)
Emma Killick (appointed 1 July 2022)
Ashleigh Webber (appointed 9 January 2023)
Company Secretary
Mona Shah (resigned 1 December 2022)
Suzanne Maguire (appointed 1 December 2022)
Executive Officers
Aileen Evans, Group Chief Executive
Mona Shah, Executive Director of Finance & Business
Services
Phil Hardy, Executive Director of Operations
Registered Office K2
Timbold Drive
Kents Hill
Milton Keynes
Bucks
MK7 6BZ
Solicitors EMW Law Trowers & Hamlins
Devonshires Wright Hassall
Perrin Myddelton
Funders NatWest Bank plc Santander Plc
Royal Bank of Scotland plc Barclays Plc
Bankers NatWest Bank plc
Auditors Beever and Struthers (External) KPMG (Internal)
Valuers Savills plc
Berrys
Registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit
Societies Act 2014 No. 7853 and with the Regulator of Social
Housing No. 5060
I'm proud to have served on Grand Union's Board since 2014 and
acted as Interim Chair between November 2022 and April 2023.
Throughout my tenure, we have faced a variety of challenges but
few, not even Covid, have had quite as much impact on our customers
and colleagues as the recent cost-of-living crisis.
The impact of inflation, which peaked at 11.1% (CPI), affected
the price of food, fuel and energy leaving many in real financial
hardship. We've seen examples where customers have been forced to
make near impossible choices such as heating their homes or eating
meals. Recent e xtensive research found that 22% of our customers'
total household income is under GBP10,000, which is just not enough
to make ends meet.
This is one of the reasons we have published a report on the
UK's welfare system. Our report sets out the experiences and
challenges faced by our customers, the impact on us as a landlord,
and the possible changes that could make a significant difference.
We hope that it sparks a conversation and have called for others to
join us in the fight for change.
These high levels of inflation have, at times, left the Board
with difficult decisions to make, but I'm proud that together we've
always maintained our focus on trying to make a difference for our
customers.
To make that difference, we have needed to get a better
understanding of who our customers are and what they need from us.
Thanks to recent extensive customer research and the launch in
September 2022 of our customer feedback platform, 'Voice', we are
now able to use their feedback to genuinely shape our services for
the future.
Thanks to this feedback, we know how important an effective and
efficient repairs service is to them. That's why we've been
focussing on improving our service during the last year. We know
this will be a continued challenge moving forward, but we're driven
in our desire to provide a great customer experience.
This same drive also saw us change our approach to dealing with
damp and mould in customers' homes. During 2022/23, we implemented
a number of changes which are enabling us to prevent or remove
damp, mould and condensation. This was the culmination of work that
began in July 2021, so I'm pleased we are seeing how this positive
work has progressed.
We remain in a housing crisis and d espite external challenges
such as rising materials costs and labour shortages, we have
continued to do our bit to deliver much needed affordable homes.
I'm proud that 90 of the 282 homes we built last year were for
social rent, including 68 in our largest ever extra care scheme,
Chamomile Gardens in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Completed in
November, the 93-apartment development is for people over 55 with
an identified care need.
We also remain focussed on promoting good mental health. Early
in 2022/23 we launched an innovative partnership with regional
public health teams to create a blueprint for a new way of working
between health and housing.
As I prepare to step down from my role, I wanted to thank all
Board and Committee members, both past and present, for making the
time enjoyable while helping drive the organisation forward.
We say that "what we do matters" and the continued work we do
showcases just that. I want to t hank everyone at Grand Union for
making a difference to the communities we serve every day.
Peter Fielder
Interim Chair
In the last 18 months or so, we've seen our sector in the
spotlight from the media, government, and customers, and not in a
good way.
The quality of homes we provide, the level of professionalism of
our people and whether we listen enough to our customers have all
been questioned.
At Grand Union, we're driven to continue to make a difference to
the customers and communities we serve. And while we know that we
can improve collectively, I'm proud of the work Grand Union has
done in the last year to ensure we continue to make a difference to
the people living in our homes.
We welcomed the publication of the Better Social Housing Review
which made recommendations to drive improvements in the quality of
social housing. One of the key recommendations was to ensure that
customers have a voice and influence in organisations, and during
the past year we have worked hard to ensure this. The launch of
Voice, our customer feedback platform, has already provided
invaluable feedback which has helped to shape our services.
Knowing what customers want and what their needs are is core to
what we want to achieve. We want to better understand what 'home'
means to our customers and have asked them this very question. We
will use their feedback to directly inform our new corporate plan;
we essentially want to co-create this with customers, colleagues
and stakeholders.
We are already using our sector leading research that helps us
understand more about our customers - to make changes to our
service offer. The services we provide must meet the high standards
our customers expect and deserve, and we recognise that we will
need to vary our service offer dependent on the needs of individual
customers. That's why we're using data from our research, coupled
with customer feedback, to ensure that the support services we
provide are what our customers need.
As Group Chief Executive, my role is to make it easy for
everyone at Grand Union to do their job well. We're looking at ways
we can do this that will benefit both colleagues and customers.
We're working hard, looking at the systems we use every day and
the processes we have in place to deliver a consistently great
customer experience. This transformational work is already helping
us to become a more efficient and effective business and I look
forward to seeing where it can take us.
We have been investing in our people for years because we see
this an investment in the communities they serve. We've prepared
for today and continue to prepare for the future. This ongoing work
will tie in with the Government's push for professionalism in
housing, which we welcome.
Last year we saw some great outcomes from the investment in the
development of our colleagues, managers and leaders. I was
particularly pleased to see the promotion of two female colleagues
into Head of Service roles in the property side of the business - a
traditionally male dominated field. I hope that we see more
examples of colleagues rising through the ranks, breaking
traditions, and bringing new and exciting ideas to the table.
I'm immensely proud of what we achieved in the last year as we
continue to work towards being a more efficient and
customer-focussed business. Our colleagues and Board and Committee
members have, once again, risen to the challenges we've set them,
and I want to thank them all for their compassion, skill, and
dedication to our vision.
Finally, I wanted to express my gratitude to Peter Fielder for
stepping into the role of Board Chair on an interim basis after
Colin Dennis stepped down late in 2022. His support and steady hand
were invaluable as we worked to appoint a new Chair and finish the
year strongly.
Aileen Evans, Group Chief Executive
The year at a glance
Who we are
We've been in business for almost 30 years and provide nearly
13,000 homes for more than 29,000 people across Bedfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire. We're a GBP92
million turnover social housing business with almost 400 staff.
Our mission is more homes, stronger communities, better lives.
We build affordable homes, provide personal support, and help
people to learn, work and be healthy.
We're a financially stable and innovative not -for-profit
organisation that believes in partnership and collaboration. We
plan to build over 1,500 more new homes over the next five years to
play our part in ending the housing crisis.
Key progress against our commitments:
For today and tomorrow
Turnover GBP92m
Total assets GBP764m
We achieved VfM savings of just under GBP0.25m during the
year.
GBP50m - new long-term funding secured
In 2022/23 we built 282 new homes
-- 90 for rent (including social rent, affordable rent and supported living)
-- 118 shared ownership homes
-- 69 for supported housing and housing for older people
-- 5 for market sale
G1/V1 - Confirmed Governance and Financial Viability Standard in
July 2023 by the Regulator of Social Housing following an In-Depth
Assessment.
A3 (Negative) - Confirmed Moody's credit rating in December
2022
For our customers
39,193 repairs were carried out and 513 voids were completed. We
spent GBP26.173m on home improvements and repairs which
included:
-- 549 homes with new windows and doors with a further 79 partial upgrades.
-- 174 new kitchens and 2 kitchen upgrades.
-- 51 new bathrooms.
-- 17 new wet rooms installed as part of our accessibility work.
-- 375 new boilers installed.
-- 18 new central heating systems and 4 upgraded.
-- 630 properties received high level works and 36 upgraded.
-- 13 homes were fitted with highly efficient air source heat pumps.
Year-end compliance levels:
-- Fire risk assessments - 100%
-- Legionella risk assessments - 96.77%
-- Asbestos communal re-inspections - 99%
-- Asbestos domestic surveys - 88.10% including 9.6% cloned data
based on similar aged and sized properties.
-- Gas - 99.59%
-- Electric - 94.84% (within five years)
1,214 energy performance (EPC) surveys undertaken in the
year.
114 homes benefitted from new, higher performing insulation.
GBP3.21m benefits secured for customers in 2022/23
-- GBP995k of assistance with rent such as Housing Benefit,
Discretionary Housing payments or the housing costs element of
Universal Credit.
-- GBP1.02m in disability payments which provide extra money for
customers with long-term health problems or disabilities.
99,860 phone calls, web chats and emails answered by our
Customer Contact team.
1,661 customers signed up to MyGUHG, our customer portal.
We received 8,474 customer responses through Rant &
Rave.
Rent arrears were just 2.44% (net) of the total GBP74.5m annual
rent due
670 customers signed up to Voice, our customer feedback
platform. Between its launch on 5 September and 31 March, members
took part in:
-- 13 surveys with 41.5% average response rate.
-- 13 polls.
-- 6 forums.
157 domestic abuse referrals made for customers.
5 colleagues offered domestic abuse support.
260 safeguarding referrals made for customers.
54,500 wellbeing checks completed by colleagues.
558 personal alarm systems installed.
For each other
We have 393 members of staff.
60 have been here for more than 15 years.
-1.53% gender pay gap - reduced from 1.16% in 2022. This means
that on average women are paid 1.53% more than men at Grand
Union.
-4.72% median pay gap in favour of women.
3.84% ethnicity pay gap in favour of white colleagues.
4.27% median ethnicity pay gap in favour of white
colleagues.
22.8% of new recruits from People of Global Majority (PGM)
backgrounds.
13.7% ethnic diversity, up from 12.26% in 2022.
K2 Academy
44 courses run.
153 course delegates received training.
3 Leadership Elevator programmes run.
38 programme delegates trained.
290 training delivery hours.
4.68/5 post-learning recommendation score.
48 CIH memberships
18 certified practitioners
22 CIH qualified colleagues with 2 more currently studying.
Investors in People Silver achieved.
For our partners
79 essential worker homes now managed by Grand Union as part of
a new agreement with Habitare Homes.
11 affordable homes delivered in partnership with
Northamptonshire Rural Housing Association.
GBP2.2m joint grant funding secured with Central Bedfordshire
Council to improve the energy efficiency of our homes.
The Board presents its Strategic and Board reports on the
affairs of Grand Union Housing Group Limited (the "Group") together
with the financial statements and auditor's report for the year
ended 31 March 2023.
The Group is comprised of
Our strategic commitments for now and the future
Going further together
In 2023 we entered the final year of our corporate plan, Further
together, which sets out Grand Union's aspirations and goals.
At its heart is the theme of trust - Further together is aimed
at deserving and retaining the trust of our customers, our
colleagues and our wider stakeholders.
To build this trust, we've based Further together on four clear
commitments:
For today and tomorrow
We take our responsibilities seriously and our goal is to be a
financially strong organisation, delivering on our social purpose
and our environmental responsibilities. We build great homes where
people can live great lives, and we use our influence for the
benefit of our communities.
For our customers
We serve our customers and their communities fairly and with
integrity. Our goal is for customers to trust us to provide advice
and support when they need it. We want them to know we're on their
side.
For each other
We support our people in their service. Our goal is that people
choose to come to Grand Union because they know they'll get the
support they need to fulfil their potential and we're in it
together.
For our partners
We're an honest and constructive partner. Our goal is for
different organisations to choose to work with us because they
trust us to share our expertise and help them to get things
right.
We know that we have the power to change things for good. That's
why we build more homes, stronger communities, better lives.
Because what we do matters.
You can read more details about each of the commitments in
Further together at guhg-furthertogether.co.uk.
Grand Union Housing Group delivery map
We are based in the heart of the long-term growth area between
Oxford and Cambridge. Here we have made a long-term commitment to
building new affordable homes, within our operating area, that
enables us to deliver efficient services and support our customers
both now and in the future, as shown in the map below.
Outlook and Risk Management
As we continue in a difficult economic environment with ongoing
uncertainty, planning for the next three years remains a challenge
and it's clear that we'll need to further develop the insight we
have on our customers to ensure we are supporting them, and to
closely monitor emerging risks through active risk management. In
order to maintain our organisational performance and financial
strength, we have modelled scenarios derived from our risk register
focusing on the combined economic impacts of inflationary
increases, materials shortages, property market decline and the
cost-of-living crisis.
The stress testing undertaken on the business plan has shown
that we have been able to demonstrate that our plan is robust
enough to withstand these additional pressures; these scenarios
will be under continuous review. Through our Financial Inclusion
team, we continue to support our customers through assistance with
disability and benefits claims.
We operate in an area of planned economic growth, and we have a
responsibility to help ensure that everyone in our communities
benefits from the opportunities that brings. That means playing our
part in tackling the housing crisis by building new homes at scale
and at pace and making as many as possible available at genuinely
affordable rents. It means supporting our customers to achieve
their potential through education and training, employment and
getting involved in their communities, and it also means supporting
the people who work for Grand Union.
Our values
Further together is underpinned by the values that shape our
organisation's culture. Our values guide everything that we do and
are included below.
We're driven to do more. We empower staff to achieve more and
help us evolve into a more efficient, flexible and ambitious
organisation that has a positive impact on our customers and
communities.
We're in it together . Our can-do attitude and collaborative
approach help us achieve our goals and provide what our customers,
colleagues and partners need from us.
We deliver on our promises. We're committed to making a
difference to people's lives and by acting with integrity, being
open-minded and taking ownership, we can be trusted to do what we
say we will.
Strategy update
Our corporate plan, Further together, is split into four key
strategic commitments:
For today and For our customers For each other For our partners
tomorrow We serve our customers We support We're an honest
We take our responsibilities and their communities our people and constructive
seriously fairly and with in their service partner
integrity
For today and tomorrow
Financial and operational performance analysis
We are financially strong, and any surplus made is reinvested in
what we do, delivering more homes and support services for our
customers.
Assets GBP'000
Housing properties 700,217
----------
Other fixed assets 1,346
----------
Investment properties 31,996
----------
Intangible assets 170
----------
Current assets 30,340
----------
Total 764,069
----------
Financed by GBP'000
--------
Debt 349,763
--------
Pension liability 853
--------
Reserves brought forward 344,433
--------
Creditors (excluding
debt) 40,455
--------
Surplus for the year 28,565
--------
Total 764,069
--------
Group financial performance three-year 2023 2022 2021
summary GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Total turnover 91,535 85,858 74,943
--------- --------- ---------
Cost of sales 14,010 12,031 5,821
--------- --------- ---------
Operating costs 53,999 50,994 48,374
--------- --------- ---------
Surplus on disposal of property, plant
and equipment 3,299 2,397 1,764
--------- --------- ---------
Operating surplus/(deficit) 26,825 25,230 22,512
--------- --------- ---------
Comprehensive income for the year 28,565 9,109 6,820
--------- --------- ---------
Fixed assets 733,729 703,840 660,281
--------- --------- ---------
Net current assets 13,813 21,479 18,622
--------- --------- ---------
Creditors - more than one year 373,691 365,191 328,896
--------- --------- ---------
Revenue reserve 189,236 160,368 150,917
--------- --------- ---------
Financial Viability
The Board governs the affairs of the Group, which is regulated
by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). Following an In-Depth
Assessment in July 2023, the Group retained its highest-level
ratings from the RSH for both Governance and Financial Viability
(G1/V1). The Group's credit rating was changed to A3 (Negative) by
Moody's during the year, this change being driven by a downgrade of
the UK Sovereign in October 2022.
Governance
There has been significant change in the composition of the
Board during the year 2022/23. James Macmillan stepped down as
Chair on 30 September 2022 after seven years on the Grand Union
Board. Colin Dennis served as Chair for a short time before it was
mutually agreed in November 2022 that the cultural fit wasn't
right. Long-standing member of the Board, Peter Fielder, acted as
Interim Chair until 1 April 2023 when Steve Benson was appointed as
Chair. Peter remains on the Board as Vice Chair.
During the year, we also appointed three new Board members.
Nannette Sakyi was appointed to Board in April 2022 and also serves
on the boards of Grand Union Homes Limited and GUHG Development
Company Limited. Emma Killick, who has served on the Customer
Experience Committee since 2017, was appointed as a Board member
from 1 July 2022 and as Chair of the Customer Experience Committee
from 1 October 2022. We also appointed our first Customer Board
Member, Ashleigh Webber, who has served on the Customer Experience
Committee since 2020 and joined us as a Board member in January
2023.
Richard Broomfield, who was approaching the end of his tenure on
the Board, stepped down from his role as member and Vice Chair in
September 2022.
Grand Union is fully compliant with the NHF 2020 Code of
Governance and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard from
the Regulatory Framework for the year 2022/23. In July 2023 the
Regulator of Social Housing confirmed a rating G1/V1 once
again.
Environmentally responsible (as a business and a landlord)
Results for SECR (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting)
reflect normal working operations since Covid restrictions were
lifted. This is why business mileage and fleet transport emissions
have increased. Business mileage now also includes the home to
office mileage which it excluded as part of our expenses claims in
previous years. We have REGO (Renewable Energy Guarantees of
Origin) certificates to demonstrate that we have sourced our own
energy from our office sites from renewable sources. Energy
consumption has decreased, reflecting consolidation of office
premises. Carbon intensity has increased, but only marginally when
increases in fuel consumption reflecting normal working practises
are considered.
Our Environmental and Sustainability Strategy was amended to
reflect the need to understand the scale of our impact on climate
change and develop a comprehensive and dynamic plan to tackle our
environmental footprint. We have identified which scope three
emissions we need to report on as part of the Green House Gas
Protocol and have the methodology for how we are going to report on
these emissions in the future. Once we have calculated our whole
carbon footprint, we will commission a piece of work that uses our
data to create a pathway to net zero.
We have continued to undertake energy performance certificate
(EPC) ratings, delivering 1,214 surveys this year. These help to
plan and scope our retrofit programme. This will see all properties
achieve Band C by 2030. This target has been amended from 2028 as
previously reported.
To commence our retrofit programme, we were successful in our
application for funding for phase 2 of the Local Authority Delivery
scheme (LAD 2) for properties with EPC ratings below D across North
Northamptonshire and Central Bedfordshire. Fourteen properties
benefitted from retrofits works which accounted as GBP172k worth of
funding.
Working alongside Warm Front, who delivered energy company
obligation (ECO3) funding, 114 of our properties benefitted from
insulation (GBP136,822 of carbon funding).
Alongside Central Bedfordshire Council, we have jointly won
GBP2.2m in grant funding to help improve energy efficiency in our
homes. Further information on this can be found on page 30.
During the year we progressed our Disposals Strategy. This sets
out our plans over the coming 30 years to replace poor performing
homes on a 1:1 basis with new, energy efficient homes. We have
identified 2,000 homes that we will look to replace as they become
available.
Work on an environmental management system that is compliant
with ISO14001 is complete and we will be implementing this across
the business in the coming year.
Working with the Re-Use Community Project in Milton Keynes, our
voids team have started to arrange collections of reusable
furniture that are left behind by customers in our void
properties.
Our first cohort of Carbon Literacy training was delivered. Due
to positive feedback received from this training, we have committed
to delivering Carbon Literacy training to all managers in the
coming year and will plan how to roll this out to all
colleagues.
SECR reporting - energy and carbon
Scope one
Energy use and emissions from use of purchased gas.
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
kWh 940 - -
-------- -------- --------
tCO(2) -
e 0.17 -
-------- -------- --------
Energy use and emissions from fleet transport and machinery.
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
kWh 1,503,794 1,997,725 2,544,320
---------- ---------- ----------
tCO(2)
e 366.53 473.02 610.39
---------- ---------- ----------
Scope two
Energy use and emissions from purchase of electricity for Grand
Union offices and sites.
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
kWh 289,934 179,710 129,174
-------- -------- --------
tCO(2)
e 67.60 38.16 24.98
-------- -------- --------
Scope three
Energy use and emissions from business travel in rental cars or
employee-owned vehicles where Grand Union is responsible for
purchasing the fuel or awarding mileage allowance.
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
kWh 249,828 387,616 634,812
-------- -------- --------
tCO(2)
e 62.59 95.63 157.50
-------- -------- --------
Totals
Total annual energy and emissions
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
kWh 2,044,496 2,565,052 3,308,306
---------- ---------- ----------
tCO(2) e 496.89 606.80 792.87
---------- ---------- ----------
Intensity ratio:
tCO(2) e per property
managed 0.04 0.05 0.07
---------- ---------- ----------
Our current SECR reporting does not reflects Grand Union's
entire carbon footprint. We have been working to improve our
reporting and have identified the key areas that we need to report
on for scope three emissions in line with the Green House Gas
Protocol and are gathering data to be able to report.
We operate in an area of planned economic growth, and we have a
responsibility to help ensure that everyone in our communities
benefits from the opportunities that brings. That means playing our
part in tackling the housing crisis by building new homes at scale
and at pace and making as many as possible available at genuinely
affordable rents. It means supporting our customers to achieve
their potential through education and training, employment and
getting involved in their communities, and it also means supporting
the people who work for Grand Union.
1,000 shared ownership homes and counting
Interest in shared ownership homes remains strong. We generated
over GBP13.7m from selling 105 properties and customers continue to
reserve homes off plan across our operational area.
During the year, we completed our 1,000th shared ownership home.
The property in question, a three-bedroom home in Shefford,
Bedfordshire, is home to Alice, her husband Adam, and son Oscar.
It's one of 42 affordable homes on this site at Ivel Road, which
was originally one very large house and its land.
Alongside these, we continued to build and sell homes at full
market rate on our site in the Bedfordshire village of Gravenhurst.
Five new homes were completed and sold through our subsidiary,
Grand Union Homes Limited. All profits from these sales are
reinvested to help us continue to provide more affordable
homes.
Success story - "It's perfect for our needs."
Tony and Sarah had always dreamed of settling in Whitehouse,
Milton Keynes (MK), but with costly property sale prices, it seemed
like an unattainable aspiration. The couple had spent many years
renting, until they learned of Grand Union's shared ownership
scheme. Through shared ownership, they could afford a place of
their own, in the estate they longed to live in - moving in in
August 2017 and soon after starting a family.
"We've accomplished a great deal in the years we've been here.
Since moving in, we've had two beautiful daughters and helped to
set up the Whitehouse Church, which has been a fantastic way to
connect with other families living in the area.
"The homes are really picturesque; you can't tell the affordable
properties from the private sale homes, which I think really helps
to reduce the stigma associated with affordable housing. Because
Grand Union is so local, it's a personable service, you really get
to know people in the organisation and build relationships."
Tony grew up in and around Milton Keynes and, after his parents
fell on hard times, he and his family lived in a static caravan for
several years.
"I was living in the caravan for a long time, into my early
twenties. While completing my degree in Youth Work, it made sense
to live at home, keeping my outgoings lower. I spent a year out
living with my uncle in Tanzania, before returning to the UK and
gaining employment at Loughton Baptist church in Milton Keynes,
where I met my future wife, Sarah.
"Sarah and I rented for many years and, once we were married,
the only place we could afford to live in was a one-bedroom
bungalow for GBP750pcm. It wasn't fit for our needs, but we made
do. We had dreams of settling in MK but affording to buy a property
seemed out of reach. I remember looking around a development at
Whitehouse, with a starting price of properties at GBP450k. It was
really disheartening."
Tony's mum had worked with Grand Union in her role at the
Fremantle Trust and suggested he and Sarah check out our website.
When Tony visited the site, he couldn't believe what he saw.
"My jaw dropped when the first home I saw advertised was a
two-bed in Whitehouse, available for shared ownership - the very
location we'd dreamed of living in. I stayed up until 1am, filling
in a form and was delighted when our application was approved.
"It wasn't just the house itself and the location, which was
perfect, within six months several families had moved into the
estate, and it felt like a real sense of community. With my
background in the church, I helped set up the Whitehouse Church and
launched lots of local events, primary school visits and organised
meal drops during the pandemic.
"We definitely wouldn't have been able to afford to live in
Whitehouse without Grand Union's shared ownership scheme. What's
more, we're keen to staircase - buying more shares of our property,
with the view of owning it outright one day. Though our family has
grown since moving in, it's perfect for our needs and we
particularly love the garden space."
National recognition
Early in 2023, one of our extra care schemes was highly
commended at a national awards ceremony.
Quince Court in Sandy, Bedfordshire, was praised by judges but
just missed out on the award for best purpose-built accommodation
at the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Excellence
Awards.
The scheme won the regional award for the Central region in
autumn 2022 and was one of six national finalists in the category
at the awards which recognise and reward people in construction who
work in all types of building projects.
2022 saw the completion of 25 new modern self-contained
apartments at the scheme, which sit alongside 30 existing
apartments, and offer tailored care and support to over 55s.
Using our voice for good
We recognise that we have a duty to highlight what is important
to us and promote the things we stand for.
In June 2022 we supported the Harry's Pledge campaign at a
breakfast meeting in Westminster. Aileen Evans, along with other
supporters of the Pledge, discussed the importance of supporting
carers and those they care for. As a result of this, Peter Bone MP
introduced a Private Members' Bill in parliament.
In October 2022 we wrote to 10 MPs from across our operating
area urging the Government to keep its pledge of raising benefits
at least with inflation and make changes to funding so we can
invest more in existing and new homes. We did this alongside other
members of PlaceShapers, a national network of place-based housing
organisations, of which we're a member.
We began working on a report on the UK's welfare system during
the year. It sets out the experiences and challenges faced by our
customers, using case studies and line-by-line budgets to
demonstrate how difficult it is for families to make ends meet. Now
the report has been published, we are calling for a fundamental
review of the system to make things better for our customers.
In March 2023 we once again took part in No More Week, a
national campaign dedicated to ending domestic abuse and sexual
assault by increasing awareness, inspiring action and creating a
culture change.
We also responded to government consultation on disability
benefits and the call for evidence on health assessments for
benefits. We know the impact this has on our customers so felt it
was important to have our say.
Throughout the year, our Group Chief Executive, Aileen Evans has
also used her platform as former President of the CIH to highlight
and discuss key issues including customer poverty, mental health
awareness and the need for us to build much more affordable housing
to help end the housing crisis.
For our customers
Giving our customers a voice
The Social Housing White Paper highlighted the importance of
customer voice and influence and we have been working hard to
ensure that this is at the core of the work we do.
In July 2022 we launched our new Customer Influence Framework.
It details our strategic approach to bringing the customer voice
into the organisation and covers feedback, complaints and
engagement.
The framework, which was informed by extensive research, enables
our customers to influence our services and really hold us to
account.
One of our first actions was to provide an inclusive channel to
seek a representative customer voice. We did this in September 2022
with the launch of Voice - a fully anonymous customer feedback
platform.
We have almost 700 active users and the membership is
representative across our customers. As a result, the feedback we
receive provides an accurate representation of our customers'
views.
So far, the feedback received on Voice has already helped us
review our Pet Policy, find out what's important to customers when
moving into their new home, and inform improvements in our customer
portal, MyGUHG.
We also wanted to improve the level of transparency of customer
feedback on our website. We used Voice to gain valuable insight
into what they wanted to see on the page and have designed it
around their feedback.
We have been proactively preparing for the collection of our
first Tenant Satisfaction Measures data. This survey will be
delivered through Voice, additional emails to those not using Voice
and some telephone interviews. We have designed a methodology that
reflects the needs of our customers, and ensures we get a broad and
inclusive response. We know from previous work with customers that
we reach a more representative group if we offer digital channel
collection. We will be sharing the results with customers during
the Summer of 2023.
Shaping the business around the customer experience
Our customers, stakeholders and our organisation are facing
significant challenges and it is more important than ever that we
are able to effectively respond to our customers' needs. We
recognise that designing our services around our customers is vital
- not only to ensure we are meeting our customers' needs but also
because we know it drives value, as each unnecessary touchpoint
costs money, time and effort.
By using customer feedback and the comprehensive piece of
customer segmentation we did in 2021 , we've been able to shape a
number of services to ensure they are better suited to our
customers' needs.
Thanks to their feedback, we know that managing the delivery of
our repairs service is a priority for both our customers and the
business. We have combined our repairs planning team and Customer
Contact team under a single management structure, which enables us
to have clearer oversight and management of our repairs reporting
and scheduling. This in turn will improve the end-to-end processes
for customers contacting us through different channels.
We had reviewed our Assisted Gardening Scheme to see whether it
was a service that was still used or required. Our customer
research has clearly evidenced that a significant proportion of
customers are unable to maintain their outside space. In addition,
we can see that the customers most likely to be experiencing
difficulties are also likely to have potential protected
characteristics which we need to consider. This research has
enabled us to evidence the need and difficulties or challenges
faced by our customers.
During the year we ran a cost-of-living survey with customers
which highlighted the impact of poverty on them as well as the
reality of escalating costs. We can see that customers do
prioritise their rent, so where they are experiencing difficulty
paying us, it is likely they are in debt with others too. We have
used this information to consider our processes across our Payment
Support and Financial Wellbeing teams. It has also informed a
merging of two teams - Customer Support and Wellbeing & Support
- to enable a consistent support for those most in need.
Our existing homes
The condition of our homes is continually reviewed, with the
results determining a long-term repair and component replacement
programme.
Key highlights of 2022/23 spend and works:
Component Cost GBP'000 Total
no.
Central heating GBP1,257 Boiler changes 375
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Full systems 18
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Upgrades 4
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Air source heat pumps Included in heating Full systems 13
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Roofing GBP2,558 High level works 630
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Upgrades 36
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Electrical testing Electrical testing
and upgrades GBP1,749 jobs in total 2,621
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Kitchens GBP1,318 Kitchens 174
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Upgrades 2
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Bathrooms GBP484 Bathrooms 51
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Upgrades 1
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Wet rooms 17
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Windows and doors GBP2,168 Windows and doors 549
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Upgrades 79
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
External works GBP381 Programmed works 27
--------------------- -------------------- ------
Upgrades 10
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Keeping homes safe
At Grand Union, we have a responsibility to keep more than
29,000 customers safe in their homes.
A key part of this responsibility is the successful management
of our health and safety activities.
We deliver a comprehensive property compliance programme
comprising the following areas:
-- Fire safety
-- Legionella management
-- Asbestos management
-- Gas safety
-- Electrical safety
-- Lift management
Transparency around our health and safety performance is
important for us. That's why we display live compliance figures for
each of these areas on our website so that customers and partners
can see how we're doing.
Each year, two areas of our property compliance activities are
subject to independent audit and in 2022/23 these were fire risk
and electrical safety.
The wellbeing of our colleagues and customers is overseen by the
Health & Safety Group, which meets four times a year, with
reports going from this group to the Customer Experience Committee.
We also report to the Board, through the Customer Experience
Committee, annually on all health and safety related activities;
the compliance areas are also subject to an independent annual
audit.
New fire safety legislation
During the year, new fire legislation came into force in the
shape of The Fire Safety Act 2021 and Fire Safety (England)
Regulations 2022. As a result of the new legislation, Grand Union
made a number of provisions for all our residential blocks of flats
with common areas.
We have adopted the Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool
(FRAPT), which provides a standardised framework for scoring our
buildings to prioritise the updating of Fire Risk Assessments
(FRA). We will use this tool to determine if any of our blocks
require their FRA bringing forward in our current five-yearly cycle
of formal updating.
Under the new regulations, we are required to provide fire
safety instructions to all customers in multi-occupied residential
buildings. We ensured that all Fire Action Notices, which explain
what to do in the event of a fire, were updated in all 345 communal
areas of our blocks of flats. We also provided an updated fire
safety leaflet to over 3,000 customers living in our blocks of
flats. These were posted to customers and uploaded to our website,
and they included updated information on the importance of fire
doors.
For residential buildings between 11m and 17.9m tall, of which
we have two, we are now required to undertake annual checks of flat
entrance fire doors and undertake quarterly checks of all fire
doors in the common parts. In October and November 2022, we
installed an asset tagging system, linked to an app, which makes it
easier for us to monitor our compliance in this area.
Dealing with damp and mould
A key focus in the last year was dealing with damp and mould in
our customers' homes.
The tragic case of Awaab Ishak - the two-year-old who died from
a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in
his family's home in Rochdale - highlighted the need for housing
associations to look at how they deal with the issues of damp,
mould and condensation.
Having already set up a project team in July 2021 to help
improve what we do and how we deal with the issues, we implemented
a number of proactive measures during 2022/23 to reduce and remove
damp, mould and condensation in customers' homes.
Changing how we work
Where we know of cases of damp, mould and condensation we take
primary responsibility for this - it is never treated as a
lifestyle issue.
Getting the problem sorted as quickly as possible is our
priority, which is why we changed our policies to treat the mould
on the initial visit rather than starting with an inspection. We
also set up a dedicated team of trades operatives to focus on
dealing with damp, mould and condensation issues.
As well as these specialists, the rest of our trades teams and a
number of other colleagues have undergone training on dealing with
damp, mould and condensation to ensure they can identify potential
signs when visiting customers' homes.
Focus on... Jason and Stuart - Specialist damp and mould
operatives.
Jason Stretton and Stuart McNeal joined Grand Union in September
2022 in specialist roles that deal with damp, mould and
condensation issues. Jason explained the kind of work they've been
doing.
"In our role we tend to be the first visit for damp and mould
treatment. When I arrive at a customer's home, I always try to go
around all the rooms to check for any other signs of damp or mould.
If we find anything, we always try to take pictures first.
"After that, we get sheets down and use a specialist product
called fungi blitz which is specifically designed to eliminate deep
lying mould spores.
"We wash the areas down with this and then talk the customer
through how long it takes to dry and what the next stages are."
Part of Grand Union's approach has been to use technology to
help solve damp, mould and condensation issues. Stuart explained
that they use damp meters during visits.
"These measure the levels of moisture in walls which allow us to
identify where an issue could be coming from.
"There are certain signs we can recognise too by eye. Sometimes
you can see signs of damp in a corner of a room, so I'd have a look
outside to see if there's anything that could be causing it, such
as a blocked gutter. We're always looking for reasons."
While Grand Union never treat damp, mould and condensation as a
lifestyle issue, the team know that it can often be really useful
for them to pass on valuable advice and guidance that will help
reduce or even remove the issues.
Stuart explained: "I visited a customer recently who was drying
her washing inside, which we all do during the winter. If you put
your washing outside in November, you'll be bringing it in in
March! However, she said she didn't open the trickle vents because
it's too cold.
"So that's where I explained that the moisture needs to go
somewhere, so you should open the trickle vents or ideally open the
window in the room for a bit.
"We suggest lots of little things and even if customers don't do
everything, doing one or two can really make a difference."
Jason added: "We understand it's tricky though with the
cost-of-living crisis at the moment. People are dubious about
having the windows open and letting heat out if it's cold outside.
That's fine, but we often find people with radiators crammed with
things drying and sofas pushed in front of it. Houses are like us;
they need to breathe.
I've also visited a few homes where people don't open the
curtains to try to keep the heat in. All that does though is
contain moisture in the home - from cooking, showering and even
breathing.
We obviously aren't trying to tell people how to live, but we
can advise them on how to make a difference."
Both Jason and Stuart know that they're playing their part in
making a difference to customers, helping to ensure they are safe
in their homes. And it's knowing this that makes the job so
rewarding, as Stuart says.
"It's not the most glamourous of jobs, but if we can make
customers' lives better by giving them a safe environment to live
in, then that's all that matters."
Using data and technology and customer feedback
We ran a full analysis of previous cases of damp and mould to
see if there were any trends. This work found no pattern in
particular building types or layouts but as expected identified
some links with older properties with lower energy performance
certificate (EPC) ratings.
In the summer we began installing environmental sensors in a
number of our homes which track the temperature and humidity in the
property.
These sensors, that we are looking to roll out to all homes over
the next few years, allow us to keep track of the property's
performance. Using this data, we can then see when conditions
aren't quite right, helping us to act before mould and damp become
a problem. C ustomers can also use an a pp linked to the
environmental sensors to monitor the conditions in their own
homes.
We know from our extensive customer research that some of our
customers may not want to call us when they have issues such as
damp and mould. That's why we put a survey on Voice, our customer
feedback platform, to ask how many customers have issues with damp,
mould or condensation.
We had 249 responses and 58% of these said they had an issue.
Due to the anonymous nature of Voice, we had to ask if customers
were happy to provide their details so we could get the problems
sorted. Thankfully 75 did so and we were able to attend their
properties and begin fixing the issues.
We also set up a dedicated damp and mould email address to make
it easier for customers to report issues they had in their
home.
Success story - "The difference this bungalow has made is
incredible. "
Karen was living in a rented house in Luton, when she needed to
take over the care of her 11-year-old grandson who lives with
severe learning and sensory disabilities. As well as living with
autism and ADHD, her grandson is profoundly deaf, has partial
cataracts, limited communication abilities, is doubly incontinent
and has mobility issues, relying on a wheelchair most of the
time.
"I loved my house, but it was so unsuitable for looking after my
grandson. He has no concept of depth, so steps and stairs are a
real problem. Social Services moved us into temporary Airbnb
places, but these didn't meet my grandson's needs and they were
expensive for the local authority.
"One of these places was a Victorian terraced house with a
narrow staircase. I would only manage to tackle the stairs with him
once in the morning and then again at bedtime, so my grandson was
limited to just the two downstairs rooms all day. With only a
shower cubicle in the house, it was a nightmare to get my grandson
in and out of it safely. I was physically struggling and finding it
hard to cope. It was imperative that suitable housing was found for
us.
"Then a property came up with Grand Union, a spacious bungalow
with a garden, in a Bedfordshire village not too far from other
members of my family. It needed quite a bit of work to make it safe
for my grandson - a wet room, handrails and the back garden fencing
off because there was a deep pond at the rear. With limited
learning capacity and no fear of danger, my grandson just wouldn't
be safe in the garden unless it was fully enclosed.
"Alex in Grand Union's Onboarding team was really good and kept
me informed along the way, as the Occupational Therapy team helped
with the extensive amount of work that was needed to make the
bungalow as safe as possible for my grandson.
"The work was completed, and we moved in a few months ago. Now
he has a safe environment and has options about where he can be -
in his bedroom, that he loves, the living room, the kitchen, where
we have an induction cooker so he can't burn himself, or the
garden, where he has a slide to play on or his bike."
"The difference this bungalow has made is incredible. My
grandson's independence is growing already; he can make his own
decisions about where he wants to be over the course of the day,
which is the right of every child. Before, I had to be his shadow,
following him round all the time.
"Physically, it's much easier for me to care for him here -
there are no stairs for me to manoeuvre him up or down, which makes
my life so much easier."
Support where it's needed
Our customers turn to us when they need support, and we make
sure they get the advice or practical support they need.
The challenging economic environment had an impact on many of
our customers, which is why we've continued to invest in their
financial wellbeing.
It was another successful year for our Financial Wellbeing team
who continue to provide customers with welfare benefit and debt
advice.
2022/23 2021/22
Welfare Benefits referrals 1,160 1,267
--------- --------
Debt advice referrals 162 182
--------- --------
Benefits gains for customers GBP3.21m GBP2.4m
--------- --------
We also allocated GBP25,448 in emergency hardship funding to
help customers we are supporting, much of this utilising government
Household Support Funds in partnership with local authorities.
Our customers continue to face challenges accessing the welfare
system, which is why we launched a report highlighting these, as
well as the impact on us as a landlord, and the possible changes -
both long and short term - that could make a significant
difference.
The report, Investing in the Future: Reforming the UK's Welfare
System, provides case studies and line-by-line budgets that
demonstrate how difficult it is for families to make ends meet and
is available on our website.
Stronger, healthier communities
Social housing plays a key role in tackling health inequalities
and supporting the work to improve our customers' overall
wellbeing.
At the start of the year, we launched an innovative partnership
with fellow housing association Peabody and three regional public
health teams (Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton
Keynes City councils) to create a blueprint for a new way of
working between health and housing.
The approach is designed to help tackle health inequalities
through partnership working to improve access to, and engagement
with, public health services.
Some of the key areas focussed on in the first year have been
smoking, mental health and wellbeing, weight management and
physical activity, and drugs and alcohol.
During the year we recruited a dedicated Health & Housing
Co-ordinator, who has helped to roll out a number of key
initiatives including tea and talk sessions at our community hub in
Clifton, Bedfordshire. She has delivered a number of health-check
roadshows for customers across our regions. Over 130 customers
attended the roadshows, which included blood pressure and BMI
checks, as well as conversations around healthy living.
We're pleased to continue to make a difference in our
communities, despite the challenging operating environment we face.
We continue our focus on wellbeing, which has seen us run dance and
exercise classes at six retirement schemes across central
Bedfordshire and two therapeutic gardening schemes, which are
attended by customers who are socially prescribed gardening to
relieve anxiety, depression or low mood.
Our Life24 and extra care schemes collectively completed almost
55,000 wellbeing checks during the year, ensuring our most
vulnerable customers remained safe and well in their homes.
Alongside this, we're proud that we have continued to provide a
face-to-face visiting service.
Younger people have also benefitted from the support we provide.
During the year, our team delivered nearly 2,361 youth
participation and contact sessions and were successful in gaining
GBP42,439 of grant funding to support our youth activities.
Success story - Wendy's gardening for her wellbeing
Wendy, 59, moved into her Grand Union home in a Bedfordshire
village in 1994, having lived in the village since the age of
14.
Two years ago, after a serious illness, a social prescriber
suggested gardening therapy to help with her mental health
issues.
"I joined Grand Union's Gardening for Wellbeing group; I was one
of the first to join.
"I love gardening, so I was keen on the idea, but I was so
worried about meeting people. I was really nervous before that
first session, worried about what would happen.
"But there were only three people there and Emma Dagless, Grand
Union's Wellbeing Coordinator, was very nice, she really
understood.
"It's become a really nice group - there's just five of us.
During spring, summer and autumn, we garden for a couple of hours
on a Tuesday afternoon in Flitwick, sowing seeds, preparing ground,
weeding, propagating plants etc.
"During the second winter, when we were not gardening, I joined
a 12-week healthy eating cookery class, also run by Grand Union.
There were four of us there from the gardening sessions.
"I really enjoyed it, trying a lot of food I'd not tried before.
We made burgers with hidden vegetables to make them healthier,
granola bars and oatcakes, as well as soups and pancakes, and
learning other tips, for example using broccoli stalks in our
cooking.
"I'm now using more herbs in my food to make my food taste
different and I'm making a lot more meals from scratch."
"I think it's good that Grand Union offer these services, as
it's really helped me with my mental health to be with other people
and get me out of my house."
Domestic abuse and safeguarding
We are committed to do all we can to tackle domestic abuse and
support those in need so they can rebuild their lives.
During the year, our Domestic Abuse & Safeguarding team
supported 157 customers with domestic abuse varying from helping
them to be safer in their home, to moving across the country or
into a refuge. There were also 260 safeguarding referrals made for
customers and domestic abuse support provided for five
colleagues.
As part of our ongoing work towards Domestic Abuse Housing
Alliance (DAHA) accreditation, we began delivering mandatory
training to all colleagues. The training helps to enhance colleague
understanding of domestic abuse and Grand Union's approach.
Four colleagues from across the business received more in-depth
training and became Domestic Abuse Responders. Their role is to
provide support and guidance to colleagues.
National award for community work
In May 2022 our work to transform a housing estate rife with
drug-dealing and gang culture was recognised with a national
award.
We picked up the Neighbourhood Transformation award at the
Community Awards by
Aico HomeLINK for our work on the Bilberry Road estate in
Clifton, Bedfordshire.
Residents on the estate were living in fear five years ago, but
thanks to the work of Grand Union, Central Bedfordshire Council,
the police and the local community, the crime taking place there
has been eradicated and residents now say it's "a really nice
neighbourhood and a lovely place to live."
As well as taking action against the perpetrators, which
included issuing community protection notices, an injunction order
and then four simultaneous full closure orders - a first for
Bedfordshire - Grand Union has been working hard to carry out
estate improvement work and has introduced a new community hub to
help with community engagement.
For each other
A sense of belonging
We continue our work to ensure Grand Union is an employer of
choice, attracting diverse colleagues who embrace our values and
want to grow, achieve their full potential and stay within the
organisation. We want everyone to feel like they belong and believe
that we should be representative of the customers and communities
that we serve. Via our Belonging Strategy we continue to make an
impact, including taking action to increase the diversity of
applicants when recruiting, and using the NHF data tool to ensure
that we are representative.
We know that diversity makes us stronger and have been working
hard to ensure that our workforce is representative of the
communities we serve. Using the NHF data tool, we have been able to
confirm that our People of Global Majority (PGM) representation is
currently higher than our communities, but we are continuing to
look to attract a more diverse range of candidates for roles. We're
pleased with our efforts but understand there's more to do,
especially around supporting those with disabilities and increasing
LGBTQ+ diversity. We also need to increase the number of younger
people we are recruiting. We will continue to work hard to ensure
equality and diversity representation across all levels of the
organisation including the Board, where we have seen an increase in
age and ethnic diversity in the last year.
We have been piloting a new scheme for neurodiverse graduates as
part of an innovative partnership. Working alongside Ambitious
about Autism and the GEM Programme (a career development course for
those wanting to progress in the Social Housing Sector), we
provided an exciting opportunity for an autistic person to join us
for a year-long placement in a property compliance role.
We once again supported the Milton Keynes Pride festival and
we've continued to celebrate religious festivals throughout the
year. By providing authentic food and decorations in the office,
and blogs and posts on our intranet, we've helped each other learn
more about colleagues' religions and faiths.
To celebrate International Wheelchair Day in March 2023, we
hosted a wheelchair assault course to highlight the challenges
disabled colleagues face in and around our office. This was part of
our mission to create a culture of understanding to ensure everyone
feels that they belong in their workplace and their community.
Grand Union fully complies with its obligations on gender pay
gap reporting and will be publishing an ethnicity pay gap report
for the third time in 2023. All of these can be found on our
website. We also have a Single Equality Statement which goes beyond
the legal requirements and is reviewed annually.
Staff Engagement Statement
With Covid restrictions fully lifted, 2022/23 was the first full
year without them. Our post-Covid operating model is one of an
agile or hybrid nature, with previously office-based colleagues
spending at least 80% of their time now working from home.
While this level of flexibility has been well received by
colleagues, it has meant that we've needed to adapt our
communications to ensure everyone is kept up-to-date with key
information and has access to it wherever they work.
Staying in touch
Whilst we have used multiple different channels and delivery
methods, GUS - our intranet - remains the main source for all
information for Grand Union colleagues.
Since last year, we've seen engagement on GUS increase, with an
average of 95.07% of colleagues using the intranet each month.
We kept colleagues up-to-date by posting just over 506 news,
features and information articles, which collectively were viewed
over 105,000 times.
The Executive team continues to provide colleagues with regular
business updates in a variety of ways.
We started holding quarterly briefings where a member of the
Executive team has given business updates. These are held in our
office and simultaneously live streamed so that colleagues can
watch on-line. We also record these sessions so people can watch if
they were unable to be present on the day. This has proven popular,
and we've seen high levels of engagement at each briefing.
As well as this, we held a staff conference in October, bringing
all colleagues together in one place for the first time in four
years. Held at Stadium:MK in Milton Keynes, the morning session saw
members of the Leadership team give updates on our performance and
upcoming priorities. We organised a fun fair in the afternoon so
that colleagues could mix with people they might not normally
interact with. We had excellent feedback about the day,
particularly for the morning session.
Listening to colleagues
In September 2022 we launched an anonymous colleague feedback
platform, called Voice.
We wanted to find a way to allow colleagues to share their
opinions and make Grand Union better for both them and our
customers.
So far, more than half of colleagues have signed up and we've
had feedback on our staff conference, our domestic abuse policy,
how colleagues have been affected by the cost-of-living crisis, how
they are using our benefits, along with feedback on a potential new
benefit.
Looking ahead, we plan on seeking their views on other key
policies and strategies and will use Voice to do this.
We found that some colleagues were not comfortable giving
feedback, choosing not to sign up to Voice despite it being
completely anonymous. This was also a theme during some of the
Investors in People interviews. As a result, we asked colleagues to
complete a survey around trust. We are currently working on the
outputs from this survey and will use these to improve levels of
trust with our colleagues.
Publicising our performance
We believe it's important that customers know how the business
is doing, which is why we publish performance updates on our
intranet.
Every six months we provide updates on our progress against the
targets set out in our corporate plan, Further together. We have
also published dashboards where colleagues can see live data and
key performance indicators.
We produce a "year at a glance" summary animation based on our
annual report and financial statements. This was published on our
intranet, while both printed and digital copies of the full
document were also made available for colleagues.
Coming together
We understand the benefits agile working can bring, but we also
know how it is important for colleagues to connect in person.
That's why, where we can, we've looked to get together regularly
throughout the year.
Alongside the staff conference and quarterly briefings, we have
looked to hold other events and celebrations in our office to get
people together to socialise and connect.
As part of our work on our Belonging strategy, we celebrated
diversity during the year. In June we decorated the office to
celebrate Pride month and offered colleagues pin badges to show
their support for the LGBTQ+ community. We also ran a "wear it with
pride" week, where colleagues wore colours from the Pride flag to
show their support for the event.
Other events held in the office included a "cuppa and connect"
session for mental health awareness week, and a "coffee roulette"
session which we used to discuss age as a protected
characteristic.
In September our social club put together a team of colleagues
to take part in the Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival. In December
they also ran a craft fair in the office where colleagues brought
in items they had made to sell ahead of Christmas.
During the year we established a new Trades Consultative Group,
which is a forum for our Operative colleagues to share and discuss
ideas and work together to make Grand Union a better place to work.
We also held two trades briefings, which provided a great
opportunity for us to get all of our operatives together and update
them on what's going on around the business. The teams also meet up
every quarter in our office for a breakfast briefing. Here they
discuss key business updates and can share any feedback they have
from their roles.
A brief overview of our equality and diversity monitoring
2022
Gender
-- 54.3% of colleagues are female
-- 45.7% are male
Grand Union's female to male ratio is over 3.4% higher than the
population in the areas in which we operate.
54.5% of our Executive and Leadership team is female
37.7% of our Board is female
We will actively attempt to attract more females onto our Boards
in upcoming recruitment.
Ethnic origin
-- 81.7% of colleagues identify as white
-- 13.7% identify as PGM
-- 4.6% identify as other
This compares to the population data which reports 8.1% of those
in our operational area are from PGM groups. This suggests that the
workforce is fairly representative based on this data. Board ethnic
diversity has improved with 21.4% from PGM backgrounds.
During the year we took positive action to improve the mix of
candidates we sourced and improve the numbers of colleagues
recruited with PGM backgrounds. This increased the representation
of those recruited with PGM backgrounds to 18.75% during the year.
We are continuing to focus energy on improving this further.
Age
Our workforce is represented by less than 50% of 16 to
24-year-olds when compared to the population. The age diversity of
the Board has improved this year.
Our apprenticeship recruitment has been paused for this year,
but we hope to restart next year. This should have a positive
impact on the 16-24 age group.
The workforce is also under-represented in the over 65 group,
but that is to be expected as most colleagues will have retired by
65. The Board is over-represented from 45 years and above when
compared to the population.
Sexual orientation
-- 1.78% categorised themselves as gay or lesbian. This compares to 1.16% of the population.
-- 0.76% categorised themselves as bisexual. This compares to 1.06% of the population.
-- 13.2% categorised their sexual orientation as 'unknown' or 'prefer not to say'
No members of the Board or Leadership team have categorised
themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
We are planning to do work to attract more LGBTQ+ applications
in order to improve our diversity in this area.
Religion
-- 36.9% of colleagues identify as Christian.
-- In total, 7.4% of colleagues are Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh,
Muslim or follow another religion. This compares to 5.85% of the
population.
-- 44.5% of colleagues have no religious beliefs.
The Leadership team and Board are less diverse in the area of
religion.
The data gap has also improved on the reporting of religion,
with only 11.2% now missing - an improvement of 3.2%.
Disability
-- 3.3% of the workforce categorise themselves as disabled compared to:
-- 0% of the Leadership team
-- 7.14% of Board (one member)
This compares to 6.6% of the population stating they have a
disability/long-term physical or mental health condition. 22.6% of
the population say their day-to-day activities are limited a
little, limited a lot or they have a long term physical or mental
health condition but day-to-day activities are not limited.
In our colleague segmentation survey, 46% of colleagues reported
having at least one health condition that impacts them on a daily
basis.
Providing additional support
During the year, the cost-of-living crisis has had an impact on
both our colleagues and the cost of doing business. We understand
how challenging it's been, which is why we tried to support
colleagues in a number of different ways.
With energy bills rising and colleagues working from home more,
we paid a GBP26 per month working from home allowance during the
autumn and winter months and provided colleagues with a one-off
GBP500 payment to help with their rising costs.
We chose to close the business between Christmas and New Year,
giving colleagues the full week off. This was in addition to their
holiday entitlement, as we felt colleagues would benefit from the
break after a challenging year.
Promoting positive mental health is in our DNA and we continued
to do this throughout the year. Our Mental Health Champions have
continued to provide support and guidance to colleagues where
needed.
We've continued our partnership with Thrive Homes so that
colleagues from both organisations can benefit from the support of
independent, trained mental health first aiders.
This focus on mental wellbeing has seen mental health related
absence drop from 49% to 41% from 1 April 2022 to 31 March
2023.
Listening to colleagues
We wanted to get a greater understanding of our colleagues, so
we can be a better employer for them.
To do this we carried out a colleague segmentation survey on
Voice. This provided us with some real quality data about
colleagues and we will use it to ensure our colleague offer meets
their needs.
One example of this is with the number of disabled colleagues.
Only a small percentage of colleagues categorised themselves as
disabled on our HR portal, but the segmentation survey showed that
46% of colleagues said they had health conditions that impact them
on a daily basis. This new data is helping us to look at how we can
better support these colleagues.
During the year we launched our revamped colleague consultation
group. The group is called the Colleague Action Team (CAT) - as
voted for by colleagues - and is smaller than before. We expect
that this will drive more participation, enabling all members to
actively contribute to decision-making on matters affecting them.
So far CAT have contributed to a new dress code, made changes to
our check-in process, and provided ideas for a review of our
benefits package. This is another way we are ensuring colleagues
are helping to shape the business.
Investing in our people
Investment in our people is an investment in the communities
they serve. Our centre of excellence, the K2 Academy, continued to
grow during the year, running 44 courses, with over 150 delegates
receiving training.
Some of these were part of our Leadership Elevator, a series of
development programmes to support team leaders and managers to gain
the skills, experience and qualifications to move to the next level
of leadership.
In July 2022, our first cohort of colleagues graduated from our
Operations Leadership Programme, which helps managers from across
the business learn the skills needed to move into more senior
leadership roles. Since then, three of the graduates have been
promoted, proving just how successful the programme is.
Two of these, Emma and Susan, were promoted into roles within
the property side of the business - Head of Empty Homes and Head of
Property Operations. Property is a traditionally male-dominated
working environment, so we're pleased to see the new ideas and
positive changes they are bringing to their respective roles.
In April 2022 we achieved silver accreditation from Investors in
People.
To achieve this, all colleagues were invited to provide feedback
to the Investors in People consultant. Our silver accreditation,
which only 15% of companies achieve; means that the right
principles are in place at Grand Union. More than that though, it
means people and leaders are making active efforts to make sure
that there's real consistency and everyone in the organisation is
feeling the positive effects.
We were particularly pleased with the feedback we got from the
consultant, especially this comment: "You have a team of people who
share your values and are committed to working towards a positive
outcome for your customers."
We committed to market test all our roles in the autumn of 2022
to ensure that we are paying market rates. This was carried out and
informed our April 2023 pay review.
Focus on... Susan and Emma
The world of property is traditionally a male-dominated working
environment and continues to show a high proportion of men (85%)
over women (15%) working in the industry.
Susan Bland and Emma Sheer graduated from Grand Union's
Operations Leadership Programme last year and within a few months,
both found themselves promoted to new Head of service roles in
Property Services.
Emma, moved from Onboarding Manager to become Head of Empty
Homes in November 2022, and the new role allows her to manage the
key-to-key process of ending one tenancy and starting another.
"I have fantastic people in my team; I trust them and don't need
to be involved in absolutely everything, which in turn enables me
to make the most of my role. I'm clear about my expectations and
where I see my team going, as well as what I expect from them. I
want my teams to feel fulfilled in their roles, deliver great
customer service and provide good homes for our customers."
After 14 years in Grand Union's Development team, Susan was
promoted to Head of Property Operations at the start of 2023.
"I completed the Operations Leadership programme last year,
which really refreshed my confidence and was probably the catalyst
for me getting my current role as Head of Property Operations.
"I'm really proud of my team because they really do care about
our customers and work very hard. I think that changing some of the
processes will make it easier for them to do their job more
efficiently and hopefully a bit more easily.
Emma and Susan are both helping to make property more diverse
and bringing new ideas to the table, but as Susan explains, it's
not without its challenges.
"I think working in any male dominated role as a woman is hard.
I've definitely dealt with sexism before and working in
construction, it's something you just have to get used to! Working
in property now, there's a long way to go but it's definitely a lot
more equal."
"I am proud to work for Grand Union because there are lots of
female leaders in our organisation and I feel women are well
represented at a leadership level, less so in trades. I'm looking
to get more women into trades in the future because there are
definite benefits to working at Grand Union compared to being
self-employed."
Emma, like Susan, is equally proud of Grand Union and is
passionate about making positive change happen.
"I want to encourage more females in trades, enhancing our
diverse work force and supporting other women to be brave and go
for roles that they might not have done in the past.
"I think it's great that Grand Union champions diversity and
that your gender doesn't limit your potential. Women shouldn't feel
afraid to work in a male environment. I think women have as much to
bring to the table as anyone else; if you've got skills to bring to
the position, your gender doesn't matter."
For our partners
Understanding what matters
We spend time understanding our partners' priorities and values,
so we know how we can help.
Last year we worked with NHS England and local authority
partners, as part of transforming care to provide three bespoke
housing solutions for autistic people, each of whom came from
long-stay institutional care.
By collaborating with the individuals and their families and
advocates, we were able to provide incredibly positive outcomes -
specifically providing a place for them to call home, where they
had their own front door and care is provided on site, 24-7.
We also worked together with Bedford Borough Council to provide
homes for 18 customers with mental health conditions. Anvil House,
part of our Britannia Gate development, is made up of high
specification one bed flats with integrated kitchens. Three of the
flats are fully accessible for those with physical conditions. As a
result, we have also been able to help the council provide
temporary accommodation for a customer with physical disabilities
until he finds a permanent home.
'Green' funding for consortium
In March 2023 it was confirmed that we had been successfully
awarded grant funding under the Government's Social Housing
Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).
Alongside Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) we were awarded
over GBP2.2m to help improve the energy efficiency of our homes.
This will see GBP1.2m going to Grand Union and just over GBP1m
going to CBC.
The GBP2.2m will help Grand Union and CBC bring 374 lower
performing homes up to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C
rating, in line with Government targets. 170 of these are Grand
Union homes.
As part of our recent Retrofit Improvement Programme, we
committed to match the funding and have already identified 170
properties that will benefit from energy improvements over the next
two years.
We also undertook 149 retrofit assessments as part of our
application to SHDF.
Sharing our knowledge and expertise
Different organisations choose to work with us because they
trust us to share our expertise and help them to get things
right.
Our experience in providing affordable homes was one of the
reasons we were approached to help a partner build a genuinely
sustainable community in Milton Keynes.
In November we signed a 10-year deal with Habitare Homes, part
of Man Global Private Markets, to manage 79 homes for key
workers.
The apartments, which sit alongside the Grand Union Canal at the
sought-after Campbell Wharf development in Milton Keynes, are a mix
of 1, 2 and 3-bed flats, and were being offered specifically to
essential workers at a discounted rent at 80% of the market
rate.
The agreement has seen Grand Union take on the day-to-day
management of the apartments for the next decade.
During the year we continued our partnership with
Northamptonshire Rural Housing Association. We shared our knowledge
and resources to help them deliver their aspirations and, through
our consortium, access Homes England grant under the new Affordable
Homes Programme 2021/26.
As a result of this partnership, we were able to help deliver 11
high-quality, genuinely affordable places for people to call home
in the Northamptonshire countryside.
In 2021 we delivered the most comprehensive piece of customer
research to date which enabled us to create a statistically robust
understanding of who our customers are - showing their needs,
capability, strengths and challenges. This work also provided us
with detailed information around equality, diversity and
inclusion.
Following this, we were approached last year to undertake
similar research for a number of other housing associations in the
east of England. This work is highlighting what motivates and
challenges our customers and will bring their voice into our
organisations.
This is more important than ever, as we all seek to ensure our
services are informed by evidence and that we hear a representative
customer voice.
Transparent and accountable
We share information to ensure transparency of our performance
because we understand that being held to account makes us
better.
We fully comply with the Housing Service Ombudsman Code and our
self-assessment has been published on our website.
During the year we updated our website to include live
performance data so customers and partners could see how we're
doing. The information, which is updated daily from our systems,
includes customer satisfaction scores across a number of topics,
repairs and empty homes performance and safety compliance
scores.
Valuing our reputation
The aim of the Communications and Public Affairs Strategy is to
help Grand Union to go further together, by using our voice for
good, and enhancing and protecting our reputation.
We have been using different social media channels, including
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter to promote Grand Union to
different audiences. By using different channels, we've been able
to ensure relevant information goes out to the relevant audience,
ensuring they stay up to date with what's happening at Grand
Union.
During the year we published a social media survey on Voice to
find out which channels our customers are using and what kind of
content they want from us. We are using this feedback to shape our
upcoming Social Media Strategy.
Value for Money (VfM)
VfM is a key element of our Further together strategy. By being
more efficient we can build great homes where people can live great
lives and where we also provide an excellent service to our
customers. Our aims are that,
- We'll get the balance right between current and future customers.
- We'll optimise social value by working efficiently and, from
customer insight and analytics, consider different approaches to
delivery to support a proactive customer- first approach.
- We'll consult with our customers to provide a transparent
service where we are held to account for our performance and to
ensure that the customer voice determines where we invest,
balancing costs and quality, homes and services.
Highlights in 2022/23
Our focus continues to be on transformation, systems, reporting
and investing in our people. The key achievements for the year are
highlighted under the efficiency, effectiveness and economy
categories.
Efficiency and Effectiveness
Structure changes
During the year we had two existing teams that support our
customers with wellbeing needs - Wellbeing & Support within
Life24 and Customer Partners within Successful Tenancies. Whilst
there is a close working relationship between teams, colleagues
have raised concerns about role responsibilities and how the
allocation of work can lead to duplication or cross over. We have
removed the Wellbeing & Support team from the Life24 structure
and merged them with the Customer Partner team within Successful
Tenancies. This should lead to seamless processes for the team,
providing a clearer remit of work and clearer triaging of
customers.
By bringing our recruitment process in-house, we have recruited
79 colleagues without the expense of agencies.
We have created a new one stop repairs hub for customers and
colleagues by having one manager overseeing the Customer Contact
team, the Customer Resolutions team and the Works Planning
team.
A Head of Empty Homes role has been created to oversee the
end-to-end void and onboarding process and our Relocations
team.
Our customer segmentation work and customer feedback has
informed us that we need to focus on some key areas. We know we
have some processes which create silo working, inconsistency in
delivery and a poor outcome for our customers. We have therefore
made some changes taking an end-to-end process and have pulled
together all the colleagues that we need into single, focused
teams, to enable us to deliver improved services and better
outcomes.
To focus on improvements required to Property Operations systems
and processes in order to clear the backlog and manage these going
forward, we have allocated some dedicated resource who will work
alongside the IT team focusing on implementing the latest version
of our Dynamic Works Scheduling system.
Economy
The current environment makes it a challenging time to capture
value for money savings. The escalating inflation costs across all
areas, combined with the reduced income from the capped rent, has
proved very constraining for economic value for money savings.
Despite this, we have saved GBP0.2m through various IT contracts,
communication tenders and other small efficiencies.
Procurement
In a year that has provided multiple challenges for supply
chains, our procurement partnerships have helped us mitigate the
significant risks we have faced. Our central procurement function
has developed our wave plan further so that we can be more
proactive in contract negotiation.
Our materials procurement ensured increases were limited to an
average of 15% compared to the wider market of circa 20%. We are
members of several procurement partnerships, ensuring competitive
tenders are received in the most efficient way. Furthermore, Grand
Union acts as a contracting authority on a number of frameworks,
including materials supply and utilities, which achieves additional
value. The fixing of energy prices has limited the impact for Grand
Union and customers in schemes from significant rises this
year.
Learning and Development
K2 Academy (K2A) has been open for over two years and its main
aim is to offer tailored training to colleagues through a planned
annual offer. We commit to deliver learning interventions to
colleagues, through a range of blended learning solutions that are
wide-reaching and that offer VfM. This year we have delivered 62
courses including building resilience, increasing emotional
intelligence, problem-solving, managing conflict and mental health
awareness, along with a strong focus on developing our management
and leadership capacity.
Systems Development
During the year we appointed a consultant to undertake a review
of our systems architecture which will underpin the future
investment in our IT systems, including our core housing management
system. The main aims of this review were to understand the best
options available in today's system marketplace and understand the
implications and opportunities of any decision to move away from
the systems currently in use. The need to start moving at pace to
introduce new systems to support the organisation to achieve its
intended outcomes of improved efficiency, customer experience and,
in the long-term, cost savings have been identified. In doing this,
systems should be fully digitally enabled for everyone (customers,
suppliers and colleagues) and, where possible, cloud-based for ease
of access.
Performance Reporting Framework
We are working with an external consultant to shape a new
performance framework for the business. We have conducted
stakeholder interviews, looked at current information we have
through KPIs and strategic plans, identified the corporate KPIs and
we are in the process of identifying the performance and management
indicators. Once fully designed, it will help to drive a positive
performance culture by enabling all levels of the business to
easily view and understand performance and identify areas for
improvement.
A major factor in all the analysis or reporting we carry out
will be to identify the cost of the services we deliver, and how
these represent VfM. This will be used as a catalyst to enable
quicker decision-making and the ability to take remedial action to
make improvements. We will identify how our performance across the
business is driven by implementing cost benefit analysis to
analyse, assess, and evaluate the cost versus action versus
outcome, i.e. is the cost of what we are trying to achieve, and how
we will achieve it, financially viable.
Funding the growth
We completed a new funding issue for GBP50m which includes
consideration of the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme 2020. This
new funding demonstrates VfM in two ways, from the cost of funds
(attractive rates due to MHCLG guarantees) and the continued
commitment to develop additional new build affordable homes. The
all-in rate was 3.208% which was lower than the other market
rates.
VfM metrics
The metrics below reflect the challenges of the environment we
are operating in, given the impact of the pandemic and our
continued investment transforming our customer services and
investment in maintaining our homes.
Metric *Restated **Peer Sector 2023/24
2022/23 2021/22 group scorecard Targets
average 2021/22
2021/22
Reinvestment 6.29% 7.25% 8.0% 7.0% 8.90%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
New supply delivered
- social housing 2.13% 2.36% 2.10% 1.60% 2.12%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
New supply delivered
- non-social housing 0.06% 0.20% 0.10% 0.50% 0.06%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
Gearing 48.15% 48.57% 52.30% 45.50% 49.00%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
EBITDA MRI ^ 147.43% 139.09% 156.10% 164.60% 151.00%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
Headline social housing GBP4,069 GBP3,670 GBP4,115 GBP4,377 GBP4,596
cost per unit GBP
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
Operating margin - social
housing lettings only 26.81% 27.86% 29.50% 24.50% 30.19%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
Operating margin - overall 25.70% 26.59% 27.80% 21.40% 29.50%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
Return on capital employed
(ROCE) 3.59% 3.48% 3.60% 3.30% 3.62%
---------- ---------- --------- ----------- ---------
* Restatement following the separate classification of abortive
scheme costs
** Our peer group consists of, BPHA, Futures Housing Group,
Settle, Stonewater, PA Housing, Longhurst Group, East Midlands
Group, Greatwell Homes, Paradigm Housing and Nottingham Community
Housing Association
^ During 2021/22, loans with Nationwide and Newcastle were
refinanced triggering early repayment breakage costs of GBP4.37m.
Excluding the breakage costs the EBITDA MRI metric for the year
would have been 179.38%.
Reinvestment has reduced slightly during the year at 6.29% and
includes both new supply and investment in existing stock. The main
driver for the decrease being new supply with delays impacting the
number of new homes completed.
The provision of new supply of social stock was broadly in line
with last year but impacted by lower than anticipated development
activity. This level of growth is expected to continue into the
next financial year with a target of 287 new homes and then for
further growth as the development programme reaches 1,513 units in
the next five years of the business plan. We continue to look at
growth opportunities including strategic partnerships. There will
also be future growth in the delivery of non-social housing as new
tenure streams are developed, including market sale homes to
complement the market rent portfolio already managed by the
Group.
Our gearing ratio has reduced marginally over the past 12 months
from the growth in the development pipeline and increases in
general operating costs from inflationary pressures driven from the
external economic environment. Inflationary cost pressures are
being felt most in the construction sector due to a number of
factors including supply chains not recovering since the pandemic,
increases in fuel and energy costs, a shortage of labour and the
war in Ukraine; this is driving up both materials and salary costs
and, as a result, impacting the cost of our repairs service and new
build development. The development market also continues to be
increasingly competitive resulting in price pressures on S106
delivery.
EBITDA MRI has been impacted by higher operating costs and
higher interest costs due to the interest rate increase, which is
being mitigated as much as possible by maintaining circa 85% of our
loans on fixed rates. The next few years will continue to be
challenging due to the external environment pressures, but we
expect our EBITA MRI to remain stable if not improve.
We have financial golden rules which help safeguard the Group
against external risk. These have been assessed and included as
part of the Resilience plan which is included as part of the Risk
Management Framework. Included within these golden rules are
covenant specific metrics (including gearing and interest cover)
which are also considered as part of the annual Treasury Management
Policy review and wider Treasury Strategy.
The Headline Social Housing cost per unit has increased by
GBP399 (11%); this increase can be broken down as:
-- GBP147 increase in responsive repairs and GBP230 increase in major repairs,
-- GBP27 increase for management costs due to increases in salary and overhead costs,
-- GBP21 increase in service charges due to increases in utility
costs and furniture and equipment (F&E) purchases in a number
of our supported schemes,
-- GBP26 reduction in other social housing costs due to lower
pension service costs and component replacement write-offs.
Although the group is committed to reducing our overall cost per
unit over the coming years, the environment we are in is extremely
challenging and it will be difficult. We need to continue to invest
in our IT systems through the systems architecture review. Our
commitment is to improve the service we offer to our customers and
will be achieved through our ongoing customer insight work. By
having a greater understanding of our customers, we can use
segmentation analysis to tailor our services to ensure that they
are effective, efficient and represent real value for money to
every customer group. We have already made some changes, for
example, pet policy and assisted gardening requirements, based on
the insight we have. The future development of the K2 Academy will
ensure the continued investment and development in our staff
team.
The operating margin has been negatively affected for both
social housing lettings and overall, as a result of the increased
operating costs mainly from routine and planned maintenance costs
resulting from additional material and labour costs, component
replacement write-outs, pension service costs and overall
management costs.
Sector scorecard
Metric Restated Sector scorecard
2022/23 2021/22 2021/22
Customer satisfaction 4.0 4.4* N/A
---------- --------- -----------------
Investment in communities GBP1.0m GBP1.0m N/A
---------- --------- -----------------
Occupancy 99.18% 99.07% 99.5%
---------- --------- -----------------
Ratio of responsive
to planned maintenance
spend 0.70 0.73 0.70
---------- --------- -----------------
Rent collected 99.85% 99.44% 100%
---------- --------- -----------------
Overheads as a % of
adjusted turnover 12.37% 12.99% 14.9%
---------- --------- -----------------
*Grand Union now monitors customer satisfaction through the Rant
& Rave platform. The score is out of a possible 5.
Customer satisfaction has remained relatively stable throughout
the year, ending the year as a slightly lower average score.
Service managers have responsibility for reviewing feedback from
Rant & Rave to identify opportunities for service improvement
and make sure service improvements are prioritised and acted
on.
Our biggest customer touchpoint is the repairs service and,
unsurprisingly, this is the service area that attracted the most
negative feedback during the year. We continue to closely monitor
and review the performance of the repairs service by both internal
and external contractors, and to tackle recurring service issues,
strip out unnecessary waste and ensure our processes are aligned to
and enhance the customer experience. Learning from complaints and
Rant & Rave is a key part of the review. A prime focus
continues to be on improving our right first-time rates as this is
the cause of many complaints and adverse customer feedback.
Our plans for further improvement
As for many in the sector, the main concern is how the current
economic situation will play out over the next year or two. The
rapid increases in inflation experienced over recent months have
created a cost-of-living crisis which is likely to not only have a
significant impact on our customers' finances but also on the
organisation's ability to control costs, grow, develop systems and
enhance services whilst ensuring rents remain affordable over the
next year. We have some key projects planned for next year which
support our value for money strategy, some of which are detailed
below.
-- Implement a new CRM as part of the systems architecture
review and review system requirements for a new housing management
system.
-- To complete the Performance Framework project and embed the reporting through the business.
-- As part of our funding strategy, review existing loans for costs and covenant flexibility.
-- Working as members of HouseMark, further understand our margin at tenure level.
-- In accordance with our Strategic Asset Management Strategy,
commence our proposed stock disposal programme in order to maximise
the social value our property portfolio provides.
-- Progress our work on the Customer Segmentation project to
redesign our services to meet the expectations and requirements of
our customers in an efficient and cost-effective way.
-- Continue our carbon stock investment programme in line with
our Sustainability Strategy to ensure our stock meets EPC C by
2030.
-- Revise our procurement process based on the new wave plan
information collated this year and we will be procuring some major
contracts that will have an impact next year.
-- Financial awareness training for all managers to ensure
accurate budgeting, forecasting and the impact of any decisions
made.
Group Board
The members of the Board are shown on page 1. Board members, who
are all non-executive members, are drawn from a wide background,
bringing together professional, commercial and local experience. At
31 March 2023 the Group had issued 11 GBP1 shares. Grand Union
Housing Group operates a closed shareholding of which only Board
members are shareholders.
In the year 2022/23 the Grand Union Housing Group Board met
formally four times during the year in accordance with its terms of
reference. Throughout the year, members also participated in two
strategy days, a Board risk appetite workshop and sessions on rent
setting, asset spend, strategic asset management strategy and cyber
awareness. In addition, the Group Board was supported during the
year by the group-wide committees.
Subsidiary Boards
Grand Union Homes Ltd
This subsidiary was established in 2015 to build quality homes
and create sustainable places catered to local markets across
Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire. It prides
itself on creating vibrant communities in great locations, which
offer a range of housing choices for every stage of life. By
reinvesting all profits into affordable housing, Grand Union Homes
is able to help realise Grand Union's mission of building more
homes, stronger communities and better lives.
Grand Union Group Funding PLC
This subsidiary was formed in late 2013 and the principal
activity of the Company is to act as the funding vehicle for Grand
Union Housing Group. As the Company's activities are limited to the
raising and management of private finance for Grand Union Housing
Group Limited, it employs no staff and all administration functions
are carried out by Grand Union's Finance team.
GUHG Development Company Limited
This subsidiary began trading on 1 April 2022. The company's
principal activities are limited to providing design and build
services for members of the group. It employs no staff directly,
with recharges made by Grand Union Housing Group for staff
resources provided.
Committees
Audit & Risk Committee
The Group's Board has delegated the monitoring of the risk
management framework and internal controls to the Audit & Risk
Committee. The Committee met five times during the year and reports
to the Board on its activity throughout the year. The Committee is
responsible for recommending the appointment of both internal and
external auditors and considers the scope of their work each year.
It also receives regular reports from both sets of auditors. The
Committee reviews in detail the annual report and financial
statements and recommends them to the Board.
Governance & Remuneration Committee
The Group's Governance & Remuneration Committee met four
times during the year. The Committee has responsibility for
remuneration policies and reviews Chief Executive performance and
pay and that of the other executive directors, recommending to
Board as appropriate. The Committee overseas Board, Committee and
Executive recruitment and facilitates the annual Board appraisal
and effectiveness reviews. In addition, the Committee has delegated
responsibility for governance best practice and works with the
Governance team including matters such as Board and Committee
appraisal, training and improvement initiatives.
Customer Experience Committee
This Committee met four times during the year. The Committee has
responsibility to report to the Group Board on all areas of the
business which have an impact on the quality and efficiency of the
services we provide and evidenced by the monitoring of feedback
from our customers.
Regulator of Social Housing Regulatory Framework
The Board reviews annually its compliance with the Regulatory
Framework and confirms that it complies fully with its requirements
at year end. We take a transparent approach to self -reporting to
the Regulator and during 2022/23 we have self-reported twice and
the Regulator has approached us for further information on one
occasion. In all cases feedback received from the Regulator was
that they were taking no further action.
National Housing Federation Code of Governance 2020
In April 2021, the Board adopted the National Housing
Federation's Code of Governance 2020. The Board reviews compliance
against the Code annually and confirms it is in compliance for the
year 2022/23.
Executive Directors
Grand Union's Executive Officers have no interest in the Group's
share capital, and although they do not have the legal status of
Directors, they act as an Executive within the authority delegated
by the Board and are termed Director. The Board has delegated the
day-to-day management and the implementation of its strategy and
policies to the Group Chief Executive and other senior officers.
The Executive Management team meets regularly, and its members
attend Boards, Committees and the Groups outside of the governance
structure, which are Investment & Development Group, Health
& Safety Group and Funding Group.
Directors' and Officers' Liability Insurance
The Group has purchased Directors' and Officers' Liability
Insurance for the Board, Executive Officers and employees of the
Group.
Employees
The ability of the Group to meet its objectives and commitments
to customers in an efficient and effective manner depends on the
contribution, commitment and quality of its colleagues. Grand Union
provides training programmes focusing on quality and customer
service requirements, and the Group's objectives and progress are
discussed at regular management and departmental meetings. Managers
throughout Grand Union attend training to improve their leadership
and management skills.
Grand Union is committed to equal opportunities for all its
employees and strives to attain an inclusive culture and building
on achieving a diverse as possible workforce through its Belonging
strategy. We have effective employment policies in place, which are
reviewed on a regular basis. All existing colleagues have been
provided with diversity and inclusion training, whilst new members
of staff are trained during the induction process.
The Board is aware of and kept up to date with its
responsibilities on matters relating to health and safety. The
Health & Safety Group hold quarterly meetings and review in
detail key aspects of health and safety regarding employees. This
is reported to Customer Experience Committee and a summary goes to
the Board at each of its meetings.
The Governance and Viability Standard
Following an In-Depth Assessment, the Regulator of Social
Housing reconfirmed the status of the Group as G1/V1 in July 2023,
indicating that the highest standards of governance and financial
viability are being met. The Board confirms compliance with the
Governance and Viability Standard for the year 2022/23.
Risk management & internal controls
At Grand Union we recognise that some managed risk-taking is
essential if we are to meet our objectives. Therefore, we are
committed to a 'risk aware' culture and we acknowledge that risk
cannot always be eliminated from the activities we undertake. We
ensure that we have a robust approach to risk management with
enough resources allocated to ensure risk is managed effectively
and reported regularly.
The Regulator of Social Housing requires that we have an
effective risk management and internal controls assurance
framework. Our framework includes our strategic approach to risk,
our methodology for the assessment of risks, reporting mechanisms,
timing, and specific risk management responsibilities.
Risk Management Framework
At Grand Union we are committed to providing high quality
services in the most efficient and cost-effective way that puts
customers first. The management of risk is a core element of our
corporate governance to ensure we are able to prioritise
improvements as well as delivering our day-to-day services as
expected and to a high standard.
Effective risk management enhances our:
-- Likelihood of delivering our objectives
-- Reputation and trust
-- Ability to innovate
-- Financial sustainability
-- Planning and decision-making
-- Leadership, management, and corporate governance.
The approach we take in the management of risk ensures that our
activities are:
-- Proportionate to the level of acceptable risk-taking
-- Aligned with our objectives
-- Embedded throughout
-- Dynamic and responsive to emerging and changing risks.
Roles and responsibilities
The diagram (Fig.1) details some of the key responsibilities in
our approach to risk management at Grand Union:
Figure 1
During 2022/23 we have moved forward significantly with the
management of risk, introducing a new Risk Universe, which consists
of every type of risk that may affect our organisation, on every
level. Working with the Senior and Executive Leadership teams
through a series of workshops, we have identified risks that could
harm our ability to function.
Following this, we have worked with the Executive, Audit &
Risk Committee, and our Board to develop an agreed Risk Appetite,
based upon the categories of our Risk Universe in Fig. 2.
Figure 2
Risk appetite is a critical component of our Risk Management
Framework. From supporting our ability to make better decisions,
providing our board with assurance that our decision- making and
subsequent risk-taking is always carried out with their appetite
for risk at the forefront of our mind and will assist managers to
manage risks to achieve the following business benefits:
-- Achieve Grand Union's priority of putting customers first.
-- Ensure robust financial management.
-- Protect staff and residents.
-- Protect our assets; and
-- Maintain and promote Grand Union's reputation.
Following the work completed on developing our Risk Universe and
Appetite statements, we held a number of workshops with the Senior
and Executive Leadership teams to develop our Risk Universe
categories (Fig.2) into well-defined and articulated Principal
Risks to take forward and manage through the identified mitigations
for each Principal Risk.
Principal Risk Rationale Appetite
Health & Safety (Building Safety) Having a comprehensive Health & Safety (Building Averse
Safety) programme is vital for social housing
providers. To ensure the safety and wellbeing of our
residents, the implementation of a robust
Health & Safety (Building Safety) programme
demonstrates Grand Union's commitment to providing
quality housing and a secure living environment for
its residents.
------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Health & Safety (Operating Environment) Ensuring the health and safety of our residents and Averse
employees is a primary responsibility
of Grand Union and one that we take very seriously.
Managing operational risks helps us to
proactively prevent accidents, injuries, and
illnesses, promoting safe and healthy living
and working environments.
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Information Security Considering information security risks is important Minimalist
for Grand Union to enable us to protect
resident data, comply with regulations, prevent
cyberattacks and ensure operational continuity.
Proactively addressing these risks enables us to
create a secure environment and maintain
the integrity for the data that we hold.
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Data Quality Identifying data quality risks is important for Grand Minimalist
Union to enable us to support informed
decision-making, enhance resident satisfaction, ensure
regulatory compliance, promote data
integration, protect data security and privacy, and
improve operational efficiency. Prioritising
our data quality assists us to enhance our overall
performance and deliver better services
to residents.
------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Development Identifying Development risks is a crucial element to Open
support our strategic planning, financial
sustainability, timely project delivery, quality
assurance, stakeholder engagement, compliance,
and portfolio management. Addressing these risks
ensures the successful development of our
affordable housing projects, providing safe and
suitable housing to those in need.
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Government Policy (External Environment) Government policies play a significant role in the Minimalist
social housing sector, and compliance with
these policies is crucial. Identifying government
policy risks helps us to stay informed about
changes in regulations, funding requirements, and
compliance obligations, and allows us to
proactively adapt our operations and ensure
compliance.
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Asset Management Identifying asset management risks is crucial in the Open
current challenging operating environment
to ensure financial sustainability, prioritise
maintenance and repairs, enhance resident
satisfaction,
comply with regulations, preserve asset value, improve
operational efficiency, and support
portfolio management and growth.
------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Sustainability, Net Zero & Carbon Retrofitting Identifying sustainability risks is crucial for Grand Open
Union to fulfil our environmental responsibilities,
achieve cost savings, ensure regulatory compliance,
meet the needs of our residents, enhance
resilience, demonstrate social responsibility, and
foster innovation. Proactively managing
sustainability risks enables us to contribute to a
more sustainable future, deliver long-term
value, and address the evolving needs of our residents
and communities.
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------
People, Culture & Execution Capability Managing people culture risks enables us to enhance Open
employee engagement and satisfaction,
improve service quality and resident satisfaction,
attract, and retain talent, foster organisational
resilience, ensure ethical conduct and compliance, and
strengthen our leadership and governance.
Proactively managing our people culture enables us to
create a supportive work environment,
deliver high-quality services, and navigate challenges
with resilience and effectiveness.
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Finance Shock Recognising and understanding financial risk is even Cautious
more crucial in the current challenging
operating environment. This ensures our financial
sustainability, enabling us to optimise
resource allocation, secure funding sources, improve
budgeting and financial planning, mitigate
risks, maintain stakeholder trust, and comply with
financial regulations. Proactively managing
financial risks means we can navigate financial
challenges, maintain our mission of providing
affordable housing, and deliver sustainable services.
-------------------------------------------------------- ----------
To progress our risk maturity further we are now working on our
functional risk registers to support the day-to-day operations.
There are several aims for the 2023/24 period to further improve
and embed the management of risk across Grand Union including:
-- Risk Maturity Review: We continue to work with an external
consultant to support these improvements on our risk maturity.
-- Risk Workshops & Horizon Scanning: The Governance &
Risk team will continue to promote risk management and horizon
scanning through ongoing workshops so that service areas are
confident in identifying risks. Information, trends, and
intelligence from a range of global and national risk sources will
be communicated to teams so that this can be fed back into service
delivery.
-- Risk Culture: We will continue to embed the importance of
risk management at every level of Grand Union and encourage
colleagues not to view risk management in silos, but to understand
how a risk in their service area may affect other areas and the
achievement of our overall aims, objectives, priorities, and
vision.
-- New Risk Champions will be introduced to enable us to fully
appreciate the interdependencies of risks across the
organisation.
Disclosure of information to the auditor
The Board members at the date of approval of this report have
confirmed that:
-- as far as the Board members are aware, there is no relevant
audit information of which the Group's auditor is unaware.
-- the Board members have taken all the steps that they ought to
have taken as Board members in order to make themselves aware of
any relevant audit information and to establish that the Group's
auditor is aware of that information.
Going concern
The Group's activities, together with the factors likely to
affect its future development, its financial position, financial
risk management objectives, details of its financial instruments
and derivative activities, and its exposures to credit, liquidity
and cash flow risk are described above and in the Board Report.
The Group has considerable financial resources and, as a
consequence, the Board believes that, despite the considerable
external economic uncertainty, the Group is well placed to manage
its business risks successfully even in these unprecedented
times.
After making enquiries, the Board expects that the Group and all
of its subsidiaries has adequate resources (group support where
necessary) to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable
future. Accordingly, it continues to adopt the going concern basis
in preparing the financial statements.
Approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by:
Steven Benson 25 July 2023
Chair
Details of Grand Union Housing Group Limited's principal
activities, its financial performance, VfM and factors likely to
affect its future are given in the Strategic Report, which preceded
this report.
Statement of Board members' responsibilities
The Board has overall responsibility for establishing and
maintaining the whole system of internal control and for reviewing
its effectiveness within Grand Union.
The Board recognises that no system of internal control can
provide absolute assurance or eliminate all risk. The system of
internal control is designed to manage risk and to provide
reasonable assurance that key business objectives and expected
outcomes will be achieved. It can also give reasonable assurance
about the preparation and reliability of financial and operational
information and the safeguarding of Grand Union's assets and
interests.
In meeting its responsibilities, the Board has adopted a
risk-based approach to internal controls which is embedded within
normal management and governance processes. This approach includes
the regular evaluation of the nature and extent of risks to which
the Group is exposed.
The process adopted by the Board in reviewing the effectiveness
of the system of internal control, together with some of the key
elements of the control framework, includes:
-- Identification and evaluation of key risks - management
responsibility has been clearly defined for the identification,
evaluation and control of significant risks. There is a formal and
ongoing process of management review in each area of Grand Union's
activities. The Executive Management team regularly considers
reports on significant risks facing Grand Union and is responsible
for reporting to the Board any significant changes affecting key
risks.
-- Monitoring and corrective action - a controlled
self-assessment and regular management reporting on control issues
provides hierarchical assurance to successive levels of management
and to the Board. This includes a rigorous procedure for ensuring
that corrective action is taken in relation to any significant
control issues, particularly those with a material impact on the
financial statements.
-- Control environment and control procedures - the Board
retains responsibility for a defined range of issues covering
strategic, operational, financial and compliance issues including
treasury strategy and new investment projects. The Board has
adopted the NHF Code of Governance 2020 from 1 April 2021. In
addition, Grand Union has policies with regard to the quality,
integrity and ethics of its employees and these are supported by a
framework of policies and procedures with which employees must
comply. These cover issues such as delegated authority, segregation
of duties, accounting, treasury management, health and safety, data
and asset protection and fraud prevention and detection.
-- Information and financial reporting systems - financial
reporting procedures include detailed budgets for the year ahead
and forecasts for subsequent years. These are reviewed and approved
by the Board. The Board also regularly reviews key performance
indicators to assess progress towards the achievements of key
business objectives, targets and outcomes.
-- Fraud - Grand Union has in place policies in respect of
preventing, detecting and investigating fraud and the Board is
satisfied that these effectively manage the risk of fraud. Grand
Union has a Whistleblowing policy that covers Board members,
employees and customers.
The internal control framework and the risk management process
are subject to regular review by Internal Audit who are responsible
for providing independent assurance to the Board via its Audit
& Risk Committee.
The Board has received the Group Chief Executive's annual
report, has conducted its annual review of the effectiveness of the
system of internal control and has taken account of any changes
needed to maintain the effectiveness of the risk management and
control process. No successful frauds were carried out against the
Group in 2022/23 resulting in financial losses.
The Board confirms that there is an ongoing process for
identifying, evaluating and managing significant risks faced by the
Group. This process has been in place throughout the year under
review, up to the date of the annual report, and is regularly
reviewed by the Board.
Auditor
KPMG were re-appointed following a formal tender exercise as
Internal Auditors in February 2023, and Beever and Struthers were
appointed as External Auditors in January 2020.
Statement of Compliance
The Board has followed the principles set out in the Statement
of Recommended Practice (SORP) for Registered Social Providers
2018. The Group has fully complied with the Accounting Direction
for Private Registered Providers of Social Housing 2022.
Approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by:
Steve Benson 25 July 2023
Chair
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Grand Union Housing
Group Limited (the 'Association') and its subsidiaries (the
'Group') for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the
Consolidated and Association Statement of Comprehensive Income,
Consolidated and Association Statement of Financial Position,
Consolidated and Association Statement of Changes in Reserves,
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and the notes to the financial
statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies
in notes 1 and 2. The financial reporting framework that has been
applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom
Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting
Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" (United
Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the financial statements:
-- give a true and fair view of the state of the Group's and of
the Association's affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of the Group's
income and expenditure and the Association's income and expenditure
for the year then ended;
-- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom
Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
-- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the
Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, the
Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies (Group Accounts)
Regulations 1969, the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 and the
Accounting Direction for Private Registered Providers of Social
Housing 2022.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International
Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our
responsibilities under those standards are further described in the
Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial
statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group
and Association in accordance with the ethical requirements that
are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK,
including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our
other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these
requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained
is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our
opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the
Board's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the
preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any
material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that,
individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the
Group's or the Association's ability to continue as a going concern
for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial
statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Board with
respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of
this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the
Strategic Report, other than the financial statements and our
auditor's report thereon. The Board is responsible for the other
information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover
the other information and we do not express any form of assurance
conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements our
responsibility is to read the other information and in doing so,
consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent
with the financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the
audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we
identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material
misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a
material misstatement in the financial statements or a material
misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we
have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement
of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in
relation to which the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies
Act 2014 or the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 requires us to
report to you if, in our opinion:
-- the Association has not maintained a satisfactory system of control over transactions; or
-- the Association has not kept proper accounting records; or
-- the Association's financial statements are not in agreement with books of account; or
-- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
Responsibilities of the Board
As explained more fully in the Statement of Board Members'
Responsibilities set out on pages 46 - 47, the Board is responsible
for the preparation of the financial statements and for being
satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such
internal control as the Board determines is necessary to enable the
preparation of financial statements that are free from material
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the Board is responsible
for assessing the Group's and the Association's ability to continue
as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to
going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting
unless the Board either intends to liquidate the Group or the
Association or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative
but to do so.
Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial
statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the financial statements as a whole are free from material
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an
auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is
a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit
conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a
material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from
fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in
the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the
economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial
statements.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of
the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting
Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This
description forms part of our auditor's report.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting
irregularities, including fraud
We identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the
financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and then
design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks,
including obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient and
appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In identifying and addressing risks of material misstatement in
respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with
laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:
-- We obtained an understanding of laws and regulations that
affect the Group and Association, focusing on those that had a
direct effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental
effect on its operations. Key laws and regulations that we
identified included the Co-operative and Community Benefit
Societies Act 2014, the Statement of Recommended Practice for
registered housing providers: Housing SORP 2018, the Housing and
Regeneration Act 2008, the Accounting Direction for Private
Registered Providers of Social Housing 2022, tax legislation,
health and safety legislation, and employment legislation.
-- We enquired of the Board and reviewed correspondence and
Board meeting minutes for evidence of non-compliance with relevant
laws and regulations. We also reviewed controls the Board have in
place, where necessary, to ensure compliance.
-- We gained an understanding of the controls that the Board
have in place to prevent and detect fraud. We enquired of the Board
about any incidences of fraud that had taken place during the
accounting period.
-- The risk of fraud and non-compliance with laws and
regulations was discussed within the audit team and tests were
planned and performed to address these risks. We identified the
potential for fraud in the following areas: laws related to the
construction and provision of social housing recognising the
regulated nature of the Group's activities.
-- We reviewed financial statements disclosures and tested to
supporting documentation to assess compliance with relevant laws
and regulations discussed above.
-- We enquired of the Board about actual and potential litigation and claims.
-- We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or
unexpected relationships that might indicate risks of material
misstatement due to fraud.
-- In addressing the risk of fraud due to management override of internal controls we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates were indicative of a potential bias.
Due to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an
unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material
misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have
properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with
auditing standards. For example, as with any audit, there remained
a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may
involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions,
misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are
not responsible for preventing fraud or non-compliance with laws
and regulations and cannot be expected to detect all fraud and
non-compliance with laws and regulations.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the members of the Association, as
a body, in accordance with section 87 of the Co-operative and
Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and Section 128 of the Housing
and Regeneration Act 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so
that we might state to the Association's members those matters we
are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no
other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not
accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the
Association and the members as a body, for our audit work, for this
report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Beever and Struthers
Statutory Auditor
One Express
George Leigh Street
Manchester
M4 5DL
Date: 11 August 2023
2023 2022
Note GBP'000 GBP'000
Turnover 3a 91,535 85,858
Cost of sales 3a (14,010) (12,031)
Operating expenditure 3a (53,999) (50,994)
Gain on disposal of housing properties,
plant & equipment 4 3,299 2,397
Operating surplus 26,825 25,230
Interest receivable 5 292 233
Interest and financing costs 6 (15,055) (13,253)
Break costs on early redemption of
loans 6 - (4,371)
Movement in fair value of investment
properties 13 - 1,470
Surplus before tax 12,062 9,309
Taxation 10 - -
Surplus for the year 12,062 9,309
Other comprehensive income
Actuarial surplus/(deficit) in respect
of defined benefit pension schemes 19 24,455 (200)
Restriction of pension asset 19 (7,952) -
Total comprehensive income for the
year 28,565 9,109
The financial statements on pages 51 to 91 were approved and
authorised for issue by the Board on 25 July 2023 and were signed
on its behalf by:
Steve Benson Peter Fielder Suzanne Maguire
Chair Vice Chair Company Secretary
Date: 25 July 2023
The notes on pages 58 - 91 form an integral part of these
financial statements.
Note 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Turnover 3a 88,617 80,488
Cost of sales 3a (11,305) (7,095)
Operating expenditure 3a (53,997) (50,994)
Gain on disposal of housing properties,
plant & equipment 4 3,299 2,397
Operating surplus 26,614 24,796
Interest receivable 5 417 588
Interest and financing costs 6 (15,055) (13,253)
Break costs on early redemption of loans 6 - (4,371)
Movement in fair value of investment
properties 13 - 1,470
Surplus before tax 11,976 9,230
Taxation 10 - -
Surplus for the year 11,976 9,230
Other comprehensive income
Actuarial surplus/(deficit) in respect
of defined benefit pension schemes 19 24,455 (200)
Restriction of pension asset 19 (7,952) -
Total comprehensive income for the year 28,479 9,030
The financial statements on pages 51 to 91 were approved and
authorised for issue by the Board on 25 July 2023 and were signed
on its behalf by:
Steve Benson Peter Fielder Suzanne Maguire
Chair Vice Chair Company Secretary
Date: 26 July 2022
The notes on pages 58 - 91 form an integral part of these
financial statements.
2023 2022
Note GBP'000 GBP'000
Fixed assets
Housing properties 11 700,217 669,895
Other property, plant and equipment 12a 1,346 1,667
Investment properties 13 31,996 31,942
Intangible assets 12b 170 336
733,729 703,840
Current assets
Stock 15 13,161 15,172
Debtors 16 7,740 9,140
Cash and cash equivalents 21 9,439 11,865
30,340 36,177
Creditors: Amounts falling due within
one year 17 (16,527) (14,698)
Net current assets 13,813 21,479
Total assets less current liabilities 747,542 725,319
Creditors: Amounts falling due after
more than one year 18 (373,691) (365,191)
Defined benefit pension liability 19 (853) (15,695)
Net assets 372,998 344,433
Capital and reserves
Share capital 20 -
Revenue reserve 189,236 160,368
Revaluation reserve 183,762 184,065
Total reserves 372,998 344,433
The financial statements on pages 51 - 91 were approved and
authorised for issue by the Board on 25 July 2023 and were signed
on its behalf by:
Steve Benson Peter Fielder Suzanne Maguire
Chair Vice Chair Company Secretary
Date: 25 July 2023
The notes on pages 52 - 92 form an integral part of these
financial statements.
2023 2022
Note GBP'000 GBP'000
Fixed assets
Housing properties 11 700,217 669,895
Other property, plant and equipment 12a 1,346 1,667
Investment properties 13 31,996 31,942
Fixed asset investments 14 50 50
Intangible assets 12b 170 336
733,779 703,890
Current assets
Stock 15 11,768 11,368
Debtors 16 9,468 13,360
Cash and cash equivalents 21 9,403 11,834
30,639 36,562
Creditors: Amounts falling due within
one year 17 (16,563) (14,734)
Net current assets 14,076 21,828
Total assets less current liabilities 747,855 725,718
Creditors: Amounts falling due after
more than one year 18 (373,691) (365,191)
Defined benefit pension liability 19 (853) (15,695)
Net assets 373,311 344,832
Capital and reserves
Share capital 20 - -
Revenue reserve 189,549 160,767
Revaluation reserve 183,762 184,065
Total reserves 373,311 344,832
The financial statements on pages 51 to 91 were approved and
authorised for issue by the Board on 25 July 2023 and were signed
on its behalf by:
Steve Benson Peter Fielder Suzanne Maguire
Chair Vice Chair Company Secretary
Date 25 July 2023
The notes on pages 58 - 91 form an integral part of these
financial statements.
Revenue Revaluation Total
reserve reserve reserves
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 2022 160,368 184,065 344,433
Surplus for the year 12,062 12,062
Other comprehensive income:
Actuarial surplus in respect of defined
benefit pension schemes 24,455 - 24,455
Restriction of pension asset (7,952) (7,952)
Total comprehensive income 28,565 28,565
Reserve transfers 303 (303) -
At 31 March 2023 189,236 183,762 372,998
Revenue Revaluation Total
reserve reserve reserves
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 2021 150,917 184,407 335,324
Surplus for the year 9,309 - 9,309
Other comprehensive income:
Actuarial deficit in respect of defined
benefit pension schemes (200) - (200)
Total comprehensive income 9,109 - 9,109
Reserve transfers 342 (342) -
At 31 March 2022 160,368 184,065 344,433
Reserves
Revenue reserve
The revenue reserve represents cumulative surpluses and deficits
of the Group.
Revaluation reserve
The revaluation reserve relates to cumulative historic valuation
uplifts arising before 1 April 2014 .
The notes on pages 58 - 91 form an integral part of these
financial statements.
Revenue Revaluation Total
reserve reserve reserves
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 2022 160,767 184,065 344,832
Surplus for the year 11,976 - 11,976
Other comprehensive income:
Actuarial surplus in respect of defined
benefit pension schemes 24,455 - 24,455
Restriction of pension asset (7,952) (7,952)
Total comprehensive income 28,479 - 28,479
Reserve transfers 303 (303) -
At 31 March 2023 189,549 183,762 373,311
Revenue Revaluation Total
reserve reserve reserves
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 2021 151,395 184,407 335,802
Surplus for the year 9,230 - 9,230
Other comprehensive income:
Actuarial deficit in respect of defined
benefit pension schemes (200) - (200)
Total comprehensive income 9,030 - 9,030
Reserve transfers 342 (342) -
At 31 March 2022 160,767 184,065 344,832
Reserves
Revenue reserve
The Revenue reserve represents cumulative surpluses and deficits
of the Association .
Revaluation reserve
The revaluation reserve relates to cumulative historic valuation
uplifts arising before 1 April 2014.
The notes on pages 58 - 91 form an integral part of these
financial statements.
Note 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Net cash generated from operating
activities 21 39,079 33,718
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (44,141) (48,871)
Purchase of investment property (54) (7,133)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant
and equipment 6,374 5,595
Grants received 1,569 3,030
Taxation - -
Interest received 292 233
Net cash flows from investing activities (35,960) (47,146)
Cash flows from financing activities
Interest paid (15,055) (13,253)
Break costs on early redemption of
loans - (4,371)
Net loan movement 9,510 24,662
Net cash flows from financing activities (5,545) 7,038
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and
cash equivalents (2,426) (6,390)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning
of year 11,865 18,255
Cash and cash equivalents at end of
year 9,439 11,865
The notes on pages 58 - 91 form an integral part of these
financial statements.
1. Accounting policies
Grand Union Housing Group Limited (the 'Association') is a
private limited company incorporated and domiciled in England. The
address of the registered office is K2, Timbold Drive, Kents Hill,
Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6BZ. The registered number is 7853.
The main activities of the Group are the provision of affordable
homes for people in housing need. The principal accounting policies
are summarised below. They have all been applied consistently
throughout the year and to the preceding year.
General information and basis of accounting
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical
cost convention, modified to include certain items at fair value,
in accordance with FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard
applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" (FRS 102) and comply
with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Registered Social
Housing Providers 2018 (SORP), the Housing and Regeneration Act
2008 and the Accounting Direction for Private Registered Providers
of Social Housing 2022. The Group is a public benefit entity, as
defined in FRS 102 and applies the relevant paragraphs prefixed
'PBE' in FRS 102.
Grand Union Housing Group meets the definition of a qualifying
entity under FRS 102 and has therefore taken advantage of the
disclosure exemptions available to it in respect of its separate
financial statements, which are presented alongside these
consolidated financial statements. Exemptions have been taken in
relation to the following:
-- A Statement of Cash Flows has not been presented for the Association.
FRS 102 allows a qualifying entity certain disclosure exemption,
subject to certain conditions, which has been complied with. In
preparing the Association's individual financial statements, the
Association has taken advantage of the exemption not to provide
certain disclosures as required by Section 11 "Basic Financial
Instruments" and Section 12 "Other Financial Instrument Issues" and
"Related Party Transactions" on the basis that equivalent
disclosures are given in the consolidated financial statements.
Property, plant and equipment - housing properties at cost
Housing properties are stated at cost less accumulated
depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. Cost includes the
cost of acquiring land and buildings, directly attributable
development costs and borrowing costs directly attributable to the
construction of new housing properties during the development
calculated at the weighted average cost of capital during 2022/23.
Capitalisation ceases when substantially all the activities that
are necessary to prepare the asset for use are complete.
Property, plant and equipment - housing properties at deemed
cost
Where housing properties were measured at fair value at the date
of transition to FRS 102 and this valuation was used as deemed
cost, taking advantage of the exemption available on transition to
FRS 102 from previous UK GAAP, this was considered to be a
valuation and a revaluation reserve established to account for the
movement.
A release of the revaluation reserve is calculated to reflect
the additional depreciation that has been charged on the uplift to
the structure cost upon moving to deemed cost.
Depreciation is charged so as to write down the net book value
of housing properties to their estimated residual value, on a
straight-line basis, over their useful economic lives. Freehold
land is not depreciated.
Major components
Major components of housing properties, which have significantly
different patterns of consumption of economic benefits, are treated
as separate assets and depreciated over their expected useful
economic lives at the following annual rates:
Structure:
Standard 100 years
- Properties built by pre-reinforced concrete method with certificate 50 years
- Properties built by pre-reinforced concrete method without certificate 10 years
Roofs 50 years
Heating systems 40 years
Doors, windows, bathrooms, lifts, wiring, insulation and high-level works 30 years
Solar panels 25 years
Kitchens and heat pumps 20 years
Heating boilers 15 years
If the component is replaced before the end of its economic
life, the resulting charge will be reflected in the overall
depreciation charge rather than a loss on its replacement.
Properties held on long leases are depreciated over their
estimated useful economic lives or the lease duration if
shorter.
Improvements
Where there are improvements to housing properties that are
expected to provide incremental future benefits, these are
capitalised and added to the carrying amount of the property. Any
works to housing properties which do not replace a component or
result in an incremental future benefit are charged as expenditure
in surplus or deficit in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
Sales of Housing Property
Sales of housing property are taken into account on completion
of contracts. The surplus or deficit arising from the sale is shown
net after deducting the carrying value of the property and any sale
related expense.
Non-housing property, plant and equipment
Non-housing property, plant and equipment are stated at historic
cost less accumulated depreciation and any provision for
impairment. Depreciation is provided on all non-housing property,
plant and equipment, other than investment properties and freehold
land, at rates calculated to write off the cost or valuation, less
estimated residual value, of each asset on a straight-line basis
over its expected useful life.
Expected useful lives are as follows:
Office improvements 25 years
Leasehold improvements 10 years
Office fixtures 10 years
Office heating and mechanical 5 years
Furniture and fittings 5 years
Vehicles 4 years
Computer equipment 3 years
Intangible assets
Intangible assets are stated at historic cost, less accumulated
amortisation. Amortisation is provided on all intangible assets at
rates calculated to write-off the cost of each asset on a
straight-line basis over its expected useful life, as follows:
Computer software 3 years
Investment properties
The classification of properties as investment property or
property, plant and equipment is based upon the intended use of the
property. Properties held to earn commercial rentals or for capital
appreciation or both are classified as investment properties.
Properties that are used for administrative purposes or that are
held for the provision of social housing are treated as property,
plant and equipment. Mixed use property is separated between
investment property and property, plant and equipment.
Land is accounted for based on its intended use. Where land is
acquired speculatively with the intention of generating a capital
gain and/or a commercial rental return it is accounted for as
investment property. Where land is acquired for use in the
provision of social housing or for a social benefit it is accounted
for as property, plant and equipment.
Investment properties are measured at fair value annually with
any change recognised in surplus or deficit in the Statement of
Comprehensive Income.
Impairment of social housing properties
Properties held for their social benefit are not held solely for
the cash inflows they generate and are held for their service
potential. The Group has identified a cash generating unit for
impairment assessment purposes at a property scheme level.
An assessment is made at each reporting date as to whether an
indicator of impairment exists. If such an indicator exists, an
impairment assessment is carried out and an estimate of the
recoverable amount of the asset is made. Where the carrying amount
of the asset exceeds its recoverable amount, an impairment loss is
recognised in surplus or deficit in the Statement of Comprehensive
Income. The recoverable amount of an asset is the higher of its
value in use and fair value less costs to sell. Where assets are
held for their service potential, value in use is determined by the
present value of the asset's remaining service potential plus the
net amount expected to be received from its disposal. Depreciated
replacement cost is taken as a suitable measurement model.
An impairment loss is reversed if the reasons for the impairment
loss have ceased to apply and is included in surplus or deficit in
the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
As part of the end of year review an impairment was identified
on one development scheme, this was scheme specific and not a
general indication of impairment.
Social Housing Grant and other government grants
Grants received in relation to assets that have been treated as
deemed cost at the date of transition to FRS 102 have been
accounted for using the performance model. In applying this model
such grant has been presented as if it were originally recognised
as income within the statement of comprehensive income in the year
it was receivable and is therefore included within brought-forward
general reserves.
Grants received since transition in relation to newly acquired
or existing housing properties are accounted for using the accrual
model. Grant is carried as deferred income in the balance sheet and
is amortised on a systematic basis over the useful life of the
housing property structure, even if the fair value of the grant
exceeds the carrying value of the structure in line with SORP 2018.
No grant is recognised against other components.
When a housing property is sold which was partly funded by
social housing grant (SHG) the grant becomes repayable and is
transferred to a Recycled Capital Grant (RCGF) fund until it is
either reinvested in a replacement property or repaid to the
Regulator of Social Housing.
Leased assets
At inception the Group assesses agreements that transfer the
right to use assets. The assessment considers whether the
arrangement is, or contains, a lease based on the substance of the
arrangement.
Operating leased assets
Leases that do not transfer all the risks and rewards of
ownership are classified as operating leases. Payments under
operating leases are charged to surplus or deficit in the Statement
of Comprehensive Income on a straight-line basis over the period of
the lease.
Interest payable
Borrowing costs are interest and other costs incurred in
connection with the borrowing of funds. Borrowing costs are
calculated using the effective interest rate, which is the rate
that exactly discounts estimated future cash payments or receipts
through the expected life of a financial instrument and is
determined on the basis of the carrying amount of the financial
liability at initial recognition.
Under the effective interest method, the amortised cost of a
financial liability is the present value of future cash payments
discounted at the effective interest rate and the interest expense
in a period equals the carrying amount of the financial liability
at the beginning of a period multiplied by the effective interest
rate for the period.
Taxation
The majority of the Group's activities are charitable and are
conducted through the Registered Provider which has charitable
status. No taxation is payable on activities relating to charitable
purposes. Any charge for taxation is based on the surplus/deficit
for the year and recognises deferred taxation because of timing
differences between the treatment of certain items for taxation and
accounting purposes. Provision is made for deferred tax on a full
provision basis.
Value Added Tax (VAT)
The Group is registered for VAT but a large proportion of its
income, including rents, is exempt for VAT purposes. The majority
of the Group's expenditure is subject to VAT which cannot be
reclaimed, and expenditure is therefore shown inclusive of VAT
where appropriate. For those areas where VAT is recoverable, a
group partial exemption formula has been agreed with HM Revenue and
Customs (HMRC). The recoverable amount is credited against the
relevant expenditure.
Pensions
Local Government Pension Scheme
The group participates in a local government pension scheme
which is a multi-employer scheme where it is possible for
individual employers as admitted bodies to identify their share of
the assets and liabilities of the pension scheme. For this scheme
the amounts charged to operating surplus are the costs arising from
employee services rendered during the period and the cost of plan
introductions, benefit changes, settlements and curtailments. They
are included as part of staff costs. The net interest cost on
pension movement during the year is charged to revenue and included
within finance costs. Re-measurement comprising actuarial gains and
losses and the return on scheme assets (excluding amounts included
in net interest on the net defined benefit position) are recognised
immediately in other comprehensive income.
Defined benefit schemes are funded, with the assets of the
scheme held separately from those of the Group, in separate trustee
administered funds. Pension scheme assets are measured at fair
value and liabilities are measured on an actuarial basis using the
projected unit credit method. The actuarial valuations are obtained
at least triennially and are updated at each reporting date. This
scheme was closed to new members from 1 April 2013.
The Group recognises a plan surplus as a defined benefit plan
asset only to the extent that it is able to recover the surplus
either through reduced contributions in the future or through
refunds from the plan.
Multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme - Social Housing
Pension Scheme (SHPS)
The company participates in the Social Housing Pension Scheme
(the Scheme), a multi-employer scheme which provides benefits to
some 500 non-associated employers. The Scheme is a defined benefit
scheme in the UK. The Scheme is subject to the funding legislation
outlined in the Pensions Act 2004 which came into force on 30
December 2005. This, together with documents issued by the Pensions
Regulator and Technical Actuarial Standards issued by the Financial
Reporting Council, set out the framework for funding defined
benefit occupational pension schemes in the UK.
The Scheme is classified as a 'last man standing arrangement'.
Therefore, the company is potentially liable for other
participating employers' obligations if those employers are unable
to meet their share of the scheme deficit following withdrawal from
the Scheme. Participating employers are legally required to meet
their share of the Scheme deficit on an annuity purchase basis on
withdrawal from the Scheme.
Defined contribution scheme
The Group participates in a defined contribution scheme where
the amount charged to surplus or deficit in the Statement of
Comprehensive Income in respect of pension costs and other
post-retirement benefits is the contributions payable in the year.
Differences between contributions payable in the year and
contributions actually paid are shown as either accruals or
prepayments in the Statement of Financial Position.
Investments
Investments are measured at cost less impairment.
Turnover
Turnover represents rental and service charge income, fees and
revenue-based grants receivable from local authorities and from
Homes England, the proceeds of first tranche sales of shared
ownership properties and open market property sales, housing
management services, feed in tariff income and assistive technology
services income.
Revenue for the main income streams is recognised as
follows:
Rent Revenue is measured at the fair value of
the consideration received or receivable
and represents the amount receivable for
the services rendered net of empty properties.
Service charge Fixed service charge income is recognised
income in the year to which it relates. Variable
service charge income is recognised in the
year the related cost is recognised.
------------------------------------------------------------
First tranche shared Property sales income is recognised when
ownership property the risks and rewards of ownership have passed
sales and properties to the buyer upon legal completion of the
developed for outright sales, except in circumstances where specific
sale legal contractual terms dictate that risks
and rewards of ownership pass at different
times.
------------------------------------------------------------
Revenue grants Revenue grants are recognised when the performance-related
conditions are met or when the grant proceeds
are received or become receivable if no conditions
are imposed.
------------------------------------------------------------
Amortisation of Grants provided to construct social housing
government grant assets are recognised on a systematic basis
over the useful economic life of the asset
for which the grant is intended to compensate.
------------------------------------------------------------
Interest receivable Interest income is recognised on a receivable
basis.
------------------------------------------------------------
Gift Aid Gift Aid is recognised on a received or receivable
basis.
------------------------------------------------------------
Other income Other income relates to housing management
services, feed in tariff income and assistive
technology services which are recognised
on a receivable basis.
------------------------------------------------------------
Supported housing and other managing agents
Where the Group has ownership of a supported housing or other
scheme but also has an agreement with a third party to manage the
scheme (including Supporting People funded schemes or services),
where there has been a substantial transfer of the risks and
benefits attached to the scheme to the third party, any scheme
revenue and expenditure is excluded from these financial
statements.
Shared ownership property sales
Shared ownership properties, including those under construction,
are split between non-current assets and current assets. The split
is determined by the percentage of the property to be sold under
the first tranche disposal which is shown on initial recognition as
a current asset, with the remainder classified as a non-current
asset within property plant and equipment. Where this would result
in a surplus on the disposal of the current asset that would exceed
the anticipated overall surplus, the surplus on disposal of the
first tranche is limited to the overall surplus by adjusting the
costs allocated to current or non-current assets.
Proceeds from first tranche disposals are accounted for as
turnover in the Statement of Comprehensive Income of the period in
which the disposal occurs and the cost of sale is transferred from
current assets to operating costs. Proceeds from subsequent tranche
sales are treated as disposals of fixed assets.
Inventories/WIP
Inventories and work in progress (WIP) relate to the percentage
of shared ownership properties to be sold under the first tranche
disposal which is shown on initial recognition as a current asset
under Inventories/WIP. These properties held for sale are measured
at the lower of cost and estimated selling price less costs to
complete and sell. Cost includes materials, direct labour and an
attributable proportion of overheads based on normal levels of
activity.
Financial instruments
Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when
the Group becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the
instrument.
Financial assets carried at amortised cost
Financial assets carried at amortised cost comprise rent
arrears, trade and other receivables and cash and cash equivalents.
Financial assets are initially recognised at transaction value plus
directly attributable transaction costs. After initial recognition,
they are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest
method. Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is
immaterial.
If there is objective evidence that there is an impairment loss,
the amount of the loss is measured as the difference between the
asset's carrying amount and the present value of estimated future
cash flows discounted at the financial asset's original effective
interest rate. The carrying amount of the asset is reduced
accordingly.
A financial asset is derecognised when the contractual rights to
the cash flows expire, or when the financial asset and all
substantial risks and reward are transferred.
If an arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, the
financial asset is measured at the present value of the future
payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt
instrument.
Financial liabilities carried at amortised cost
These financial liabilities include trade and other payables and
interest-bearing loans and borrowings.
A financial liability is initially recognised at transaction
value adjusted for any directly attributable transaction cost and
subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective
interest method, with interest-related charges recognised as an
expense in finance costs in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is
immaterial.
A financial liability is derecognised only when the contractual
obligation is extinguished, that is, when the obligation is
discharged, cancelled or expires.
Loan issue costs relating to the housing loans and bond issue
are amortised to the Statement of Comprehensive Income over the
repayment period of the loans. Interest payable on the loans and
bond is charged to the Statement of Comprehensive Income in the
year it is due.
On long-term lending, the interest rate to be charged is
calculated by reference to the interest rates, margins and banking
charges within the loan agreements, with the funders, on the day
the loan is made.
Public benefit entity concessionary loans
Where loans are made or received between a public benefit entity
within the Group or an entity within the public benefit entity
group and other party at below the prevailing market rate of
interest that are not repayable on demand and are for the purposes
to further the objectives of the public benefit entity or public
benefit entity parent, these loans are treated as concessionary
loans and are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position at
the amount paid or received and the carrying amount adjusted to
reflect any accrued interest payable or receivable.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand, and on demand
deposits, together with other short term, highly liquid investments
(with original maturities of three months or less) that are readily
convertible into known amounts of cash and are subject to an
insignificant risk of changes in value.
2. Significant management judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
The preparation of the financial statements requires management
to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the
application of policies and reported amounts of assets and
liabilities, income and expenses. The estimates and associated
assumptions are based on historical experience and various other
factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances,
the results of which form the basis of making the judgements about
carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily
apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these
estimates.
Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing
basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the
period in which the estimate is revised and in any future periods
affected.
Significant management judgements
The following are management judgements in applying the
accounting policies of the Group that have the most significant
effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements.
Impairment of social housing properties
The Housing SORP 2018 requires the Group to assess if there are
any triggers for impairment. Management have considered the
triggers and confirmed no further impairment is required in
addition to the specific previously identified scheme.
Categorisation of investment properties
Property assets are classified as investment property or
property, plant and equipment depending on the intended use of the
property. In determining the intended use of each property,
management considers various factors in making this judgement such
as whether the asset is held for social benefit at below a market
rent for the wider benefit of the community and whether the
properties are subsidised and operated at a loss in order to
continue providing a service. The accounting treatment will be
different depending upon the categorisation.
Loan issue costs
Where loan issues costs are deemed to be immaterial, they will
be amortised on an accruals basis instead of applying an effective
rate of interest basis.
Classification of financial instruments between basic and
other
Financial instruments are classified as either basic or other,
with differing accounting treatments depending on the
classification. Section 11 of FRS 102, 'Basic Financial
Instruments', sets out the requirements for the recognition,
measurement and de-recognition of basic financial instruments and
the conditions that must be satisfied in order to classify a
financial instrument as basic and therefore account for it in
accordance with Section 11.
Modification of financial liabilities
Where the Group has modified a loan agreement, an assessment is
carried out as to whether the modification results in substantially
different terms. If it does, the loan is de-recognised, and a new
financial liability recognised. If the new terms are not considered
substantially different, there is a re-measurement of the financial
liability using the original effective interest rate. In making
this assessment, judgement is applied in considering a combination
of quantitative and qualitative factors.
Capitalisation of property development costs
The Group capitalises development expenditure in accordance with
the accounting policy on housing properties. Judgement is exercised
over the likelihood that projects will continue.
Mixed tenure developments
Where the Group develops mixed tenure development schemes
including more than one element, the costs incurred in acquiring
and developing the land are attributed to each element of the
scheme depending on the intended usage to reflect the different
tenure types.
Estimation uncertainty
The Group makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future.
The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom
equal the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions
that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to
the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next
financial year are addressed below.
Fair value measurement
Management uses valuation techniques to determine the fair value
of assets. This involves developing estimates and assumptions
consistent with how market participants would price the instrument.
Management base the assumptions on observable data as far as
possible but this is not always available. In that case, management
uses the best information available. Estimated fair values may vary
from the actual process that would be achievable in an arm's length
transaction at the reporting date.
Provisions
Provisions are only recognised where the Group has an obligation
to incur future expenditure as a result of a past event. The
provision is recognised as a liability in the Statement of
Financial Position. These would include Service Charge Sinking
Funds, provision for an outstanding insurance claim.
Valuation of investment properties
The Group carries its investment property at fair value and
engages independent valuers to determine fair value using a
valuation technique based on a discounted cash flow model. The
calculated fair value of the investment property therefore uses
assumptions, of which the most sensitive relate to the estimated
yield and the long-term vacancy rate.
The future economic environment is uncertain due to the pandemic
and although the full impact and long-term implications are yet to
be fully understood, the Group has confidence in the values
disclosed in the financial statements. The Group has undertaken
internal reviews of the most recent investment property valuations
and assessed the financial performance of the portfolio and are
confident that when taking into consideration the financial
strength of the Group, any potential downturn in the value or
financial returns from its investment properties would not have an
impact on the Group's long term financial viability.
Defined benefit pension scheme.
The Group has obligations to pay pension benefits to certain
employees. The cost of these benefits and the present value of the
obligation depend on a number of factors, including life
expectancy, salary increases and the discount rate on corporate
bonds. Management estimates these factors in determining the net
pension obligation in the Statement of Financial Position. The
assumptions reflect historical experience and current trends.
Variations in these assumptions could significantly impact the
liability.
The cost of the LGPS and SHPS defined benefit pension plans are
primarily determined using actuarial valuations. The actuarial
valuation involves making assumptions about discount rates, future
salary increases, mortality rates and future pension increases. Due
to the complexity of the valuation, the underlying assumptions and
the long-term nature of these plans, such estimates are subject to
significant uncertainty. In determining the appropriate discount
rate, the scheme employers consider the interest rates of corporate
bonds in the respective currency with at least AA rating, with
extrapolated maturities corresponding to the expected duration of
the defined benefit obligation. The mortality rate is based on
publicly available mortality tables for the specific sector. Future
salary increases and pension increases are based on expected future
inflation rates for the respective sector.
The future salary increases provided by the actuaries ranged
between 3.40% and 3.78%.
The future CPI assumptions (basis for pension increases)
provided by the actuaries ranged between 2.78% and 2.95% and
discount rates ranged between 4.75% and 4.85%.
As the assumptions for the Social Housing Pension scheme
differed to the LGPS actuary assumptions we have applied the
following:
-- Salary increases 3.40% (actuary 3.78%)
-- CPI inflation assumption 2.90% (actuary 2.78%)
-- Discount rate 4.80% (actuary 4.85%)
The net impact of the changes to the applied standard actuary
assumptions detailed above is to increase the pension liability by
GBP35k, reducing the actuarial gain for the year from GBP24,490k to
GBP24,455k. The Northamptonshire scheme asset has been restricted
to comply with FRS 102 section 28: An entity shall recognise a plan
surplus as a defined benefit plan asset only to the extent that it
is able to recover the surplus either through reduced contributions
in the future or through refunds from the plan. There are no
refunds from the plan and the reduced contributions in the future
were not considered to be sufficient to fully meet the criteria.
The asset was therefore not recognised. Further details are given
in note 19.
Inventory
Inventory includes properties for sale under market sale and
shared ownership programmes. In addition, the Group holds work in
progress on schemes where properties are being developed for sale.
The value of each asset is assessed for impairment by review
against its selling price less costs to complete and sell and each
scheme in progress against expected proceeds less costs to be
incurred.
Whilst the long-term economic environment is uncertain due to
inflationary pressures, the Group's immediate exposure to a
downturn in the property market is fairly limited as its market
sales and shared ownership programmes over the next 12 months are
on a relatively small scale. In a situation where there was a
significant shock to the market, the Group would consider short
term conversion to rented products for which there is a strong
demand in the areas the Group operates in.
The Group effectively monitors sales risk by monitoring the
market and stress testing the business plan including scenarios of
a 31% reduction in-house prices, delays in sales and completions of
up to five years and an increase in build costs over and above
current inflation forecasts. The Group is able to withstand all
these scenarios and can ensure that suitable mitigation strategies
are in place to protect its long-term financial viability.
Components of housing properties and useful lives
Major components of housing properties have significantly
different patterns of consumption of economic benefits and
estimates are made to allocate the initial cost of the property to
its major components and to depreciate each component separately
over its useful economic life. The Group considers whether there
are any indications that the useful lives require revision at each
reporting date to ensure that they remain appropriate.
3a Particulars of turnover, cost of sales, operating costs and
operating surplus - Group and Association
2023
---------- ------------------------ ----------
Cost of Operating Operating
Turnover sales costs Surplus*
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Social housing lettings (note 3b) 69,422 - (50,810) 18,612
Other social housing activities
* First tranche property sales 13,749 (10,458) - 3,291
* Leasehold properties 86 - (86) -
* Community investment - - (1,000) (1,000)
* Alarm services 775 - (919) (144)
Non social housing activities
Garages 1,130 - (230) 900
Market rent accommodation 1,488 - (300) 1,188
Solar panel feed-in tariff 628 - (291) 337
Other 776 - - 776
Management services 178 - (122) 56
Alarm services third parties 248 - (248) -
Leasehold management services 137 - (167) (30)
Impairment - (847) - (847)
Development - abortive costs - 176 176
Total Association 88,617 (11,305) (53,997) 23,315
Open Market Property Sales 2,900 (2,689) (1) 210
Design and Build Services 18 (16) (1) 1
Total Group 91,535 (14,010) (53,999) 23,526
2022 Restated^
---------- ------------------------ ----------
Cost of Operating Operating
Turnover sales costs Surplus*
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Social housing lettings (note 3b) 65,438 - (47,209) 18,229
Other social housing activities
* First tranche property sales 10,231 (7,095) - 3,136
* Leasehold properties 77 - (77) -
* Community investment - - (997) (997)
* Alarm services 787 - (931) (144)
Non social housing activities
Garages 1,127 - (207) 920
Market rent accommodation 1,303 - (241) 1,062
Solar panel feed-in tariff 603 - (270) 333
Other 419 - - 419
Management services 163 - (120) 43
Alarm Services third parties 340 - (340) -
Development - abortive costs - - (602) (602)
Total Association 80,488 (7,095) (50,994) 22,399
Open Market Property Sales 5,370 (4,936) - 434
Total Group 85,858 (12,031) (50,994) 22,833
* operating surplus excluding gain/loss on disposal of housing
properties, plant and equipment
^ restatement following the separate classification of abortive
scheme costs
3b Particulars of income and expenditure from social housing lettings
Group and Association Rented
Year ended 31 March 2023 social Shared Supported Total 2022
housing ownership housing Restated
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Income
Rents receivable 50,742 3,679 11,641 66,062 62,344
Supporting People - - 325 325 303
Service charge income 473 197 1,712 2,382 2,112
Other income 296 - - 296 338
Amortised government grant 164 110 83 357 341
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Turnover from social
housing lettings 51,675 3,986 13,761 69,422 65,438
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Expenditure
Management (6,615) (825) (2,495) (9,935) (9,381)
Service charge costs (420) (194) (2,049) (2,663) (2,338)
Routine maintenance (11,316) - (2,523) (13,839) (12,100)
Planned maintenance (2,637) - (950) (3,587) (3,226)
Major repairs expenditure (4,835) - (2,492) (7,327) (7,007)
Write out components (956) - (262) (1,218) (1,301)
Bad debts (282) - (106) (388) (404)
Depreciation of housing
properties (7,913) (553) (1,942) (10,408) (9,698)
Depreciation - other (270) (34) (102) (406) (564)
Amortised intangible assets (140) (18) (53) (211) (249)
Lease cost (64) - (413) (477) (466)
Pension (234) (29) (88) (351) (475)
---------- ---------- ---------- -------- ----------
Operating costs (35,682) (1,653) (13,475) (50,810) (47,209)
---------- ---------- ---------- -------- ----------
Operating surplus social
housing lettings 15,993 2,333 286 18,612 18,229
Void losses 778 2 106 886 562
4. Surplus on disposal of property, plant and equipment
Group and Association 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Sale of property 6,304 5,203
Sales proceeds from the sale
of land 62 108
Costs of sale (3,091) (2,970)
Loss from other fixed asset
disposals 24 56
Surplus on disposal 3,299 2,397
5. Finance income
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Bank interest receivable 292 233 292 233
Interest receivable from a group
member - - 125 355
292 233 417 588
6. Interest and financing costs
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Interest payable on loans and overdrafts (15,937) (14,751) (9,956) (8,764)
Interest payable to group member - - (5,981) (5,987)
Break costs on early redemption
of loans - (4,371) - (4,371)
Net interest on defined benefit
liability (note 19) (1,310) (337) (1,310) (337)
Borrowing costs capitalised 2,192 1,835 2,192 1,835
(15,055) (17,624) (15,055) (17,624)
Borrowing costs on properties during construction have been
capitalised based on a capitalisation rate of 4.5% (2022: 4.5%).
The break costs relate to the early redemption of Group's Newcastle
Building Society and Nationwide Building Society loans during the
prior financial year.
7. Surplus on ordinary activities before taxation
Surplus on ordinary activities before taxation is stated after
charging:
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Depreciation of housing properties 10,615 9,904 10,615 9,904
Depreciation of other property, plant
& equipment 405 564 405 564
Amortised government grants (306) (289) (306) (289)
Amortised intangible assets 210 249 210 249
Auditor fees - statutory (excluding
VAT) 62 56 45 41
Auditor fees - other services (excluding
VAT) 17 18 17 18
Operating lease rentals - hire
of motor vehicles 607 526 607 526
(Surplus) on disposal of fixed
assets (3,299) (2,397) (3,299) (2,397)
8. Staff costs
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Wages and salaries 14,029 12,978 14,029 12,978
Social security costs 1,477 1,318 1,477 1,318
Other pension costs (see note 19) 1,964 1,995 1,964 1,995
17,470 16,291 17,470 16,291
The full-time equivalent number of staff who received
emoluments, excluding pension contribution, in excess of GBP60,000
are as shown below.
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
Salary Band GBP
60,000 - 69,999 7 5 7 5
70,000 - 79,999 1 3 1 3
80,000 - 89,999 4 5 4 5
90,000 - 99,000 3 - 3 -
140,000 - 149,999 1 1 1 1
150,000 - 159,999 1 1 1 1
170,000 - 179,000 - 1 - 1
200,000 - 209,999 1 - 1 -
The average full-time equivalent Association
number of employees was: Group
2023 2022 2023 2022
367 358 367 358
The basis of the calculation of the full-time equivalents was
the total number of working hours per week from all employees at
the reporting date, divided by a standard working week.
9. Board and Executive Directors' remuneration
Directors are defined as Board Members and the Executive
Management Team, who are key management personnel. Board members
are remunerated at different levels dependent upon their role.
Board members are also reimbursed for travel expenses totalling
GBP3k (2022: GBP2.1k)
Non-Executive Board GBP'000 Grand Investment Governance & Audit Grand Grand GUHG Customer
Member/Committee Union & Remuneration &Risk Union Union Development Experience
Member Housing Development Group Homes Company Ltd
Group Group Funding Ltd
PLC
James Macmillan 7.5 ü ü
(resigned 30/09/22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Colin Dennis 6.3 ü ü ü
(appointed Chair
01/07/22, resigned
24/11/ 22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
John Edwards 8.5 ü ü ü ü ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Peter Fielder 11.2 ü ü ü ü
(appointed Chair
24/11/ 22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Richard Broomfield 4.2 ü ü ü ü
(resigned 09/11/22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Gillian Walton 12.0 ü ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Tom Paul 6.0 ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Brent O'Halloran 6.0 ü ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Dave Willis 7.0 ü ü ü ü ü
(appointed Chair G &
R 24/11/22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Craig Thornton 6.0 ü ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Ian Bovingdon 0.5 ü
(resigned 24/04/22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Kalwant Grewal 6.0 ü ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Kevin Gould 8.5 ü ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Nannette Sakyi 6.0 ü ü ü ü
(appointed 01/04/22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Emma Killick 7.2 ü ü
(appointed to Board
01/07/22)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Ashleigh Webber 4.1 ü ü
(appointed to Board
09/01/23)
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
Shawna Barnes 3.5 ü
-------- -------- ------------ ------------- ------- -------- ------- ------------ -----------
The Executive Management team are ordinary members of either the
defined benefits or defined contribution pension schemes and have
no enhancements or special terms. No further contributions are made
to an individual pension arrangement for the Directors.
Total Executive Directors' remuneration Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Wages and salaries 503 465 503 465
Social security costs 65 58 65 58
Pension payments 37 70 37 70
605 593 605 593
------- ------- ------- -------
Remuneration of the highest paid director
(excluding pension contributions)
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Group Chief Executive 202 174 202 174
The Chief Executive is a preserved member of the local authority
pension schemes run by Bedfordshire County Council (BCC). No
special or enhanced terms apply to her membership of the
scheme.
During the year the company paid pension contributions of
GBP6,970 which reduced from GBP40,368 in 21/22 on behalf of the
highest paid director who received a compensatory adjustment to
their salary.
10. Taxation
The Group has charitable status for tax purposes and no
liability to Corporation Tax arises on its charitable activities.
In 2022/23 financial year, the Group paid no tax (2021/22: GBPnil)
relating to its non-charitable activities.
In the opinion of the directors, the tax payable by the Group is
not material and therefore full disclosures have not been provided
for.
11. Tangible fixed assets - Housing Properties
Group and Association
Land and
housing Shared
properties ownership
Housing under Leasehold Shared under
properties construction properties ownership construction Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Cost
At 1 April 2022 651,348 23,060 5,625 74,000 18,678 772,711
Additions - 24,169 - - 10,575 34,744
Transfer from
investment property
Schemes completed 25,733 (25,733) - 14,816 (14,816) -
Improvements 9,258 - 7 9,265
Disposals (497) - - (1,525) - (2,022)
Write Out Component (1,218) - - - - (1,218)
At 31 March 2023 684,624 21,496 5,632 87,291 14,437 813,480
Depreciation
At 1 April 2022 (98,935) - (937) (2,944) - (102,816)
Charge for the
year (9,931) - (131) (553) - (10,615)
Disposals 96 - 72 - 168
At 31 March 2023 (108,770) - (1,068) (3,425) - (113,263)
Net book value
At 31 March 2023 575,854 21,496 4,564 83,866 14,437 700,217
At 31 March 2022 552,413 23,060 4,688 71,056 18,678 669,895
Completed properties with a combined net book value of GBP384
million (2022: GBP368 million) have been pledged to secure
borrowings of the Group. The Group is not allowed to pledge these
assets as security for other borrowings or to sell them to another
entity.
2023 2022
Analysis of works to existing properties GBP'000 GBP'000
Capitalised: replacement of components 5,373 4,673
Capitalised: improvements 3,892 1,703
Charged to Statement of Comprehensive
Income 7,327 7,007
12a. Property, plant and equipment - Other
Group and Association
L/Hold Fixtures Computer Assistive
Improvements and fittings Vehicles equipment tech Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Cost
At 31 March 2022 1,720 195 127 1,285 113 3,440
Additions - - - 78 9 87
Disposals - - (104) (229) - (333)
At 31 March 2023 1,720 195 23 1,134 122 3,194
Depreciation
At 31 March 2022 (426) (98) (127) (1,084) (38) (1,773)
Charge during year (172) (39) - (171) (23) (405)
Disposals - - 104 226 - 330
At 31 March 2023 (598) (137) (23) (1,029) (61) (1,848)
Net book value
At 31 March 2023 1,122 58 - 105 61 1,346
At 31 March 2022 1,294 97 - 201 75 1,667
12b. Intangible Assets
Group and Association
IT Software
GBP'000
Cost
At 31 March 2022 2,407
Additions 45
disposals (38)
At 31 March 2023 2,414
Amortisation
At 31 March 2022 (2,071)
Charge for the
year (211)
disposals 38
At 31 March 2023 (2,244)
Net book value
At 31 March 2023 170
At 31 March 2022 336
13. Investment properties
Group and Association
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Valuation
At 1 April 31,942 23,500
Transfer to housing properties - (160)
Additions 54 7,132
Fair value surplus - 1,470
Carrying value at 31 March 31,996 31,942
Investment properties were valued by Savills at fair value at 31
March 2023. These are independent valuers with recent experience in
the location and class of the investment property being valued. The
method of determining fair value was in accordance with the RICS
Valuation - Global Standards (effective from 31 January 2020) and
significant assumptions were as follows:
a) that the properties are in a good condition and well managed
and maintained to institutionally acceptable standards
b) that the properties comply with legal or statutory consents.
There are no restrictions on the realisation of investment
property.
c) that the valuation was based on the accommodation being tenanted.
14. Fixed asset investments
Association
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 50 50
At 31 March 50 50
Grand Union Housing Group is incorporated in England under the
Co-operative and Community Benefit Society Act 2014 and is required
by statute to prepare Group financial statements.
All shares held as investments are held as ordinary shares.
Grand Union Housing Group Limited is the ultimate controlling party
of:
Holding
Subsidiary Undertakings Principal activity %
Grand Union Group Funding Plc Access funding 100
Grand Union Homes Limited Market sales of properties 100
GUHG Development Company Limited Design and build activities 100
15. Stock
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Properties in construction 8,271 12,070 6,878 8,266
Completed properties 4,035 2,757 4,035 2,757
Consumable stock 855 345 855 345
13,161 15,172 11,768 11,368
An amount of interest of GBP1,677k (2022: GBP1,202k) is included
in work in progress and the number of inventories recognised as an
expense in the year was GBP4,743k (2022: GBP4,272k).
16. Debtors
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Amounts falling due within one
year
Rent arrears 3,158 2,859 3,158 2,859
Provision for bad debts (2,168) (1,969) (2,168) (1,969)
Cash due from collecting agencies 234 206 234 206
1,224 1,096 1,224 1,096
Other debtors 1,245 2,598 1,083 2,529
Amounts owed by Group undertakings - - - -
Prepayments and accrued income 1,259 1,317 1,259 1,317
3,728 5,011 3,566 4,942
Amounts falling due after more
than one year
======== ======== ======== ========
Bedford Citizens Housing Association 4,012 4,129 4,012 4,129
Amounts owed by Group undertakings - - 1,890 4,289
4,012 4,129 5,902 8,418
Total debtors 7,740 9,140 9,468 13,360
-
======== ======== ======== ========
No disclosure has been made of the net present value of rental
arrears subject to repayment plans as the amount is considered to
be insignificant.
The Group has a long-term loan owing from Bedford Citizens
Housing Association for the provision of an older persons' scheme
to support the delivery of housing for vulnerable residents in the
Bedford area.
The amounts owed by the group members are secured by floating
charges and interest is charged based on the Group's weighted
average cost of borrowing and is reviewing annually. The final
repayment date on these loans is 31 March 2030.
17. Creditors - amounts falling due within one year
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Rents received in advance 2,607 2,312 2,607 2,312
Housing loans 1,929 - 1,929 -
Amounts owed to group members - - 2,071 2,071
Other creditors 2,189 2,033 2,189 2,033
Government grants - received in
advance 306 289 306 289
Recycled capital grant fund 104 112 104 112
Accruals and deferred income 9,392 9,952 7,357 7,917
16,527 14,698 16,563 14,734
Where not covered by a specific funding agreement the amounts
owed to group members are unsecured, interest free, have no fixed
date of repayments and are repayable on demand.
18. Cre ditors - amounts falling due after more than one year
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Housing loans 155,651 193,205 155,651 193,205
Bond 186,000 136,000 186,000 136,000
Bond premium 3,323 8,313 3,323 8,313
Government grants 28,647 27,401 28,647 27,401
Recycled capital grant fund 70 272 70 272
373,691 365,191 373,691 365,191
Housing loans
At 31 March 2023, GBP346.4 million (of the total facility of
GBP461.4 million) had been drawn down, of which GBP289.2 million
was fixed at interest rates between 3.08% and 7.13% and GBP57.2
million was at variable rates. These housing loans are secured by a
fixed charge on a proportion of the assets of the Group.
Housing loans due after more than one year are stated above net
of loan issue costs of GBP2,860k (2022: GBP2,735k).
Housing loans are repayable as follows:
2023 2022
Bank loans GBP'000 GBP'000
Between one and two years 25,786 1,928
Between two and five years 43,849 72,286
After five years 88,876 121,726
On demand or within one year 1,929 -
160,440 195,940
Bond
On 4 December 2013, Grand Union Group Funding Plc successfully
issued a GBP115m bond at a coupon of 4.625% with repayment after 30
years in 2043. The bond was issued at a discount of 0.578% so that
funds of GBP114.3m were received.
The cost of issuing the bond was GBP1.4m leaving a net balance
of GBP112.9m. This was on-lent to Grand Union Housing Group Limited
to enable the repayment of some of its existing loans and to fund
future development. The effective interest rate and actual interest
rate associated with the listed bond and on-lent funds is 4.715%
and 4.625% respectively. The underlying assets of the issuance
belong to Grand Union Housing Group Limited through a security
trust arrangement with the Prudential Trustee Company Ltd.
On 15 December 2020, Grand Union Group Funding Plc successfully
tapped the 2043 Bond for a further GBP56m, which included a
retained element of GBP35m. The Bonds were issued at a premium of
44.22%, so funds received totaled GBP30.3m, this was on-lent to
Grand Union Housing Group Limited to fund future development. The
effective interest rate, and actual interest rate, associated with
the 2020 bond tap and on-lent funds is 2.182% and 4.625%
respectively.
Any bond discount/premium and costs of issue are amortised over
the term of the bond, 30 years, with Grand Union Housing Group
Limited being liable to Grand Union Group Funding Plc for both.
Government grants - deferred income
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Original capital grant value
At 1 April 28,768 25,738
Grants receivable 1,569 3,030
------------ ------------
At 31 March 30,337 28,768
Amortisation
At 1 April (1,078) (789)
Amortisation to Statement of Comprehensive
Income (306) (289)
To recycled capital grant - -
------------ ------------
At 31 March (1,384) (1,078)
------------ ------------
At 31 March 28,953 27,690
Due within one year (note 17) 306 289
Due after one year (note 18) 28,647 27,401
Capital grants received are recorded as deferred income and
amortised to turnover within the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
The period of amortisation is the remaining years of useful
economic life for the building structure from its date of
construction, or at the time of its acquisition, if this is
later.
Recycled capital grant
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Opening balance 384 531
Grant recycled (228) 51
Interest accrued - -
New build (grant utilised) 18 (198)
------------ ------------
Carried forward 174 384
Grants to be recycled less than one
year (note 17) (104) (112)
------------ ------------
At end of the year 70 272
19 Retirement benefit schemes
Since April 2013, Grand Union Housing Group has offered to all
new employees a defined contribution pension scheme, the Grand
Union Housing Aviva Pension Plan. During 2022/23 the Group paid
GBP757,752 (2022: GBP652,839) on behalf of employees who have
joined the scheme. GBP107,804 (2022: GBPnil) was outstanding as at
31 March 2023.
The Group participates in two pension schemes as an "Admitted
Body", the local authority pension schemes run by Bedfordshire
(BCC) and Northamptonshire (NCC) County Councils. These schemes
provide benefits based on final pensionable pay for employees of
all participating organisations. Both pension schemes are
multi-employer defined benefit schemes and are funded and
contracted out of the state scheme. Contributions are determined by
qualified actuaries (Hymans Robertson & Barnett Waddingham) on
the basis of triennial valuations using the "projected unit credit"
method.
The latest available valuati ons were as at 31 March 2022 and
these showed the overall actuarial value of the scheme's assets at
that date of GBP59,148k (market value). The actuarial value was
sufficient to cover 76% of the benefits that had accrued to members
and past members of the pension schemes.
Northamptonshire Bedfordshire
scheme scheme
valuation at valuation at
------------------ --------------
2023 2022 2023 2022
Key assumptions used:
Discount rate 4.75 2.70 4.80 2.70
Future pension increases 2.95 3.20 2.90 3.20
Salary increases 3.45 3.70 3.40 3.70
Mortality assumptions:
Investigations have been carried out within the past three years
into the mortality experience of the Group's defined benefit
schemes. These investigations concluded that the current mortality
assumptions include sufficient allowance for future improvements in
mortality rates. The assumed life expectations on retirement at age
65 are:
Northamptonshire Bedfordshire
Scheme Scheme
Valuation at Valuation at
------------------ ---------------------
2023 2022 2023 2022
Retiring today:
Men 21.5 21.7 21.4 22.0
Women 24.4 24.0 24.2 24.4
Retiring in 20 years:
Men 22.8 22.7 22.4 22.9
Women 25.6 25.8 25.8 26.0
Amounts recognised in the Statement of Comprehensive Income in
respect of these defined benefit schemes are as follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Current service cost 1,527 1,746
Net interest cost 407 320
Recognised in other comprehensive
income (23,622) 226
Total cost relating to defined
benefit scheme (21,688) 2,292
The amount included in the Statement of Financial Position
arising from the Group's obligations in respect of its defined
benefit retirement benefit schemes is as follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Present value of defined benefit obligations 50,640 74,175
Fair value of scheme assets (58,040) (58,783)
Restriction of pension asset* 7,952 -
Net (asset)/liability recognised in the
Statement of Financial Position 552 15,392
Movements in the present value of defined benefit obligations
were as follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 74,175 69,139
Service cost 1,499 1,672
Interest cost 1,991 1,579
Actuarial gains and losses (25,763) 3,107
Contributions from scheme participants 253 292
Benefits paid (1,500) (1,636)
Past Service costs - 36
Unfunded benefits paid (15) (14)
At 31 March 50,640 74,175
Movements in the fair value of scheme assets were as
follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 58,783 54,809
Actuarial gains and losses (2,141) 2,881
Return on plan assets
(excluding amounts included in
net interest cost) 1,584 1,259
Contributions from the employer 1,104 1,230
Administration expenses (28) (38)
Contributions from scheme participants 253 292
Benefits paid (1,515) (1,650)
Restriction of pension asset* (7,952) -
At 31 March 50,088 58,783
The analysis of the scheme assets at the Statement of Financial
Position date was as follows:
Fair value of
assets
------------------
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Equity instruments 37,825 37,265
Debt instruments 10,801 13,289
Property 7,545 7,288
Cash 1,869 941
58,040 58,783
The Pension Schemes have not invested in any of the Group's own
financial instruments or assets.
* The Northamptonshire scheme asset has been restricted to
comply with FRS 102 section 28: An entity shall recognise a plan
surplus as a defined benefit plan asset only to the extent that it
is able to recover the surplus either through reduced contributions
in the future or through refunds from the plan. There are no
refunds from the plan and the reduced contributions in the future
were not considered to be sufficient to fully meet the criteria.
The asset was therefore not recognised.
Social Housing Pension Scheme (SHPS)
The company participates in the Social Housing Pension Scheme
(the Scheme), a multi-employer scheme which provides benefits to
some 500 non-associated employers. The Scheme is a defined benefit
scheme in the UK.
The Scheme is subject to the funding legislation outlined in the
Pensions Act 2004 which came into force on 30 December 2005. This,
together with documents issued by the Pensions Regulator and
Technical Actuarial Standards issued by the Financial Reporting
Council, set out the framework for funding defined benefit
occupational pension schemes in the UK.
The last triennial valuation of the scheme for funding purposes
was carried out as at 30 September 2020 and the results of this
valuation revealed a deficit of GBP1.560m (2017: GBP1.522m). A
recovery plan has been put in place with the aim of removing this
deficit by 31 March 2028.
The Scheme is classified as a 'last man standing arrangement'.
Therefore, the company is potentially liable for other
participating employers' obligations if those employers are unable
to meet their share of the scheme deficit following withdrawal from
the Scheme. Participating employers are legally required to meet
their share of the Scheme deficit on an annuity purchase basis on
withdrawal from the Scheme.
We were notified in 2021 by the Trustee of the Scheme that it
has performed a review of the changes made to the Scheme's benefits
over the years and the result is that there is uncertainty
surrounding some of these changes. The Trustee is seeking
clarification from the Court on these items, and this process is
ongoing with it being unlikely to be resolved before the end of
2024 at the earliest. It is estimated that this could potentially
increase the value of the full Scheme liabilities by GBP155m. We
note that this estimate has been calculated as at 30 September 2022
on the Scheme's Technical Provisions basis. Until the Court
direction is received, it is unknown whether the full (or any)
increase in liabilities will apply and therefore, in line with the
prior year, no adjustment has been made in these financial
statements in respect of this.
2023 2022
---- ----
Key assumptions used:
Discount rate 4.80 2.70
Future pension increases 2.90 3.20
Salary increases 3.40 3.70
Mortality assumptions:
Investigations have been carried out within the past three years
into the mortality experience of the Group's defined benefit
schemes. These investigations concluded that the current mortality
assumptions include sufficient allowance for future improvements in
mortality rates.
The assumed life expectations on retirement at age 65 are:
2023 2022
---- ----
Retiring today:
Men 21.4 21.1
Women 23.8 23.7
Retiring in 20 years:
Men 22.6 22.4
Women 25.4 25.2
Amounts recognised in the Statement of Comprehensive Income in
respect of these defined benefit schemes are as follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Current service cost 38 41
Net interest cost 7 8
Recognised in other comprehensive
income (833) (26)
Total cost relating to defined
benefit scheme (788) 23
The amount included in the Statement of Financial Position
arising from the Group's obligations in respect of its defined
benefit retirement benefit schemes is as follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
2109
Present value of defined benefit obligations 1,518 2,240
Fair value of scheme assets (1,217) (1,937)
Net liability recognised in the Statement of
Financial Position 301 303
Movements in the present value of defined benefit obligations
were as follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
GBP'000
At 1 April 2,240 2,225
Service cost 38 41
Interest cost 60 51
Actuarial gains and losses (780) 17
Contributions from scheme participants - 8
Benefits paid (40) (102)
Unfunded benefits paid - -
At 31 March 1,518 2,240
Movements in the fair value of scheme assets were as
follows:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
At 1 April 1,937 1,872
Actuarial gains and losses 53 43
Return on plan assets
(excluding amounts included in
net interest cost) (843) 34
Contributions from the employer 110 82
Contributions from scheme participants - 8
Benefits paid (40) (102)
At 31 March 1,217 1,937
The analysis of the scheme assets at the Statement of Financial
Position date was as follows:
Fair Value Fair Value
of Assets of Assets
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Equity instruments 204 326
Debt instruments 900 1,433
Property 110 174
Cash 3 4
1,217 1,937
The Pension Schemes have not invested in any of the Group's own
financial instruments or assets.
2023 2022
20. Share capital - Association GBP GBP
At beginning of year 10 10
Issued during the year 3 4
Cancelled during the year (2) (4)
At end of year 11 10
The share capital of the Association consists of shares with a
nominal value of GBP1 each, which carry no rights to dividends or
other income. Shares in issue are not capable of being repaid or
transferred. When the shareholder ceases to be a board member that
person's share is cancelled, and the amount paid up thereon becomes
the property of the Association.
No shareholders have any rights in the residual interest in the
assets of the Association after deducting all liabilities.
Co-opted Board Members are not shareholders.
21. Statement of cash flows
Group
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Cash flow from operating activities
Operating surplus for the year 26,825 25,230
Adjustment for non-cash items:
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 11,230 10,717
Decrease/(Increase) in debtors 1,402 (1,828)
Decrease in stock 2,011 512
(Decrease)/Increase in creditors (751) 672
Pension costs less contributions payable 1,661 812
Adjustment for investing or financing
activities:
Less Gain on disposal of tangible fixed
assets (3,299) (2,397)
Cash generated by operations 39,079 33,718
22. Financial commitments
Capital commitments are as follows:
Group Association
2023 2022 2023 2024
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Contracted for but not provided
for 84,265 67,432 84,215 67,111
Approved by the directors but not
contracted for 38,031 15,663 38,031 15,663
122,296 83,095 122,246 82,774
The total amount contracted for at 31 March 2023 in respect of
new dwellings relates to approved schemes for which grant approval
has been received and is covered by cash balances and undrawn
revolving credit facilities.
23. Analysis of changes in net debt
Group
At Start Non-Cash At Year
of Year Cash Flows movements end
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Cash and cash equivalents 11,865 (2,426) - 9,439
Housing loans due in one year - (1,929) - (1,929)
Housing loans due after one year (340,253) (7,581) - (347,834)
(328,388) (11,936) - (340,324)
Association
At Start Non-Cash At Year
of Year Cash Flows movements end
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Cash and cash equivalents 11,834 (2,431) - 9,403
Housing loans due in one year - (1,929) - (1,929)
Housing loans due after one year (340,253) (7,581) - (347,834)
(328,419) (11,941) - (340,360)
24. Operating lease commitments
Total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable
operating leases are as follows:
Group Association
Restated* Restated*
2023 2022 2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Payments due:
within one year 2,426 1,386 2,426 1,386
between one and five years 7,946 4,584 7,946 4,584
In five years or more 15,207 10,998 15,207 10,998
25,579 16,968 25,579 16,968
* The 2022 disclosure has been restated to take account of
previously unrecorded operating lease commitments in our supported
housing property portfolio..
25. Number of units in management
At the end of the year accommodation owned and / or managed for
each class of accommodation was as follows:
Group and Association 2023 2022
units units
Owned and managed
General needs 8,118 8,025
Supported housing and housing for older
people 3,057 3,010
Shared ownership accommodation 1,018 916
Market rent 146 148
Intermediate market rent 73 73
Housing accommodation owned at the end
of year 12,412 12,172
Managed not owned
General needs 89 42
Supported housing and housing for older
people 100 100
Shared ownership accommodation 42 42
Market rent 2 -
Intermediate market rent 54 54
12,699 12,410
------- ---------
Reconciliation of residential accommodation owned and/or
managed
2022 Additions* Disposals Other 2023
No No No No
General needs 8,025 90 (14) 17 8,118
Supported housing and housing
for older people 3,010 69 - (22) 3,057
Shared ownership accommodation 916 118 (16) - 1,018
Market rent 148 - - (2) 146
Intermediate market rent 73 - - - 73
12,172 277 (30) (7) 12,412
------- ---------- --------- ------ ------
* the total number of new build property completions during the
year of 282 includes 5 open market sales.
26. Related party transactions
There was one Customer but no Leaseholder members of the Group
Board as at 31 March 2023. There were no Board members nominated by
local authorities.
The directors of Grand Union Housing Group have committed to
providing support to Grand Union Homes Limited to ensure that the
entity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence
for the foreseeable future. This support is anticipated to be
required in the short term as, despite the immediate risks from the
current economic climate and a perceived slowdown in the housing
market, we are confident that in time, with incentives available,
sales will be achieved.
Grand Union Housing Group and its subsidiaries have throughout
the year held balances with each other; these balances relate to
normal trading transactions between each of the entities and are
covered in more detail below:
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Payments made to subsidiaries
Grand Union Group Funding Plc - loan interest 5,981 5,987
Grand Union Homes Limited - development
cash flows (2,284) (2,955)
Receipts from subsidiaries
Grand Union Homes Limited - intercompany
loan interest 124 355
GUHG Development Company Ltd - intercompany
loan interest 1 -
Amounts owed by subsidiaries at 31 March
Due within one year:
Grand Union Homes Limited - -
Due after more than one year:
Grand Union Homes Limited 1,881 4,289
GUHG Development Company Ltd 9 -
Amounts owed to subsidiaries at 31 March
Due within one year:
Grand Union Group Funding Plc - unpaid
share capital 38 38
Grand Union Group Funding Plc - Bond interest 2,033 2,033
Due after more than one year:
Grand Union Group Funding Plc - Bond 136,000 136,000
GUHG Development Company Limited started trading on 1 April
2022.
27. Ultimate Controlling Party
The ultimate controlling party of Grand Union Housing Group
Limited is the Board of Grand Union Housing Group Limited. The
Annual Financial Statements of the Group and Association are
publicly available, and copies are available upon request from the
registered office and website.
Grand Union Housing Group is the ultimate controlling party
of:
- Grand Union Homes Limited - a non-regulated private company,
registered in England and Wales, limited by shares set up to
undertake sales of homes on the open market for the Group.
- GUHG Development Company Limited - a non-regulated private
company, limited by shares registered in England and Wales, set up
to provide design and build services on behalf of the Group. This
company began trading on 1 April 2022 during the year.
- Grand Union Group Funding Plc - a non-regulated public limited
company, registered in England and Wales, formed to on-lend all
proceeds of a bond issue to members of the Group.
28. Financial instruments
The carrying values of the Group's financial assets and
liabilities are summarised by category below:
Group
2023 2022
GBP'000 GBP'000
Financial assets that are measured at amortised
cost
Debtors 2,503 3,914
Debtors falling due after one year 4,012 4,129
Cash 9,439 11,865
15,954 19,908
Financial liabilities that are measured
at amortised cost
Trade and other payables 5,081 4,795
Public bonds 189,323 144,313
Loans and borrowings 160,440 195,940
Accruals and deferred income 9,392 9,950
364,236 354,696
29. Legislative provisions
The Association is registered under the Co-operative and
Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and is registered with the
Regulator of Social Housing as a Registered Provider as defined by
the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.
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END
FR LFMJTMTBMBMJ
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