78,000-home association one of several large landlords, including L&Q and Clarion to shift focus to existing residents
Southern Housing has confirmed it is making ‘some roles’ redundant as a result of its decision to shift spending away from development towards improving and maintaining existing homes.
The 78,000-home association, which has previously announced plans to cut its annual development to just 250 homes over four years, said it is axing roles in its development team.
A spokesperson said: “Southern Housing has made the difficult decision to reduce new development commitments to prioritise investment in our existing homes. Along with many of our peers the financial pressures faced by the sector have led to this decision. “Regrettably, this has meant a reduction in the size of our development team, with some roles becoming redundant”
He added that the association is not in a position to confirm the numbers of expected job losses as it is “still working through alternative options for affected employees.”
The housing association last month in an unaudited trading update said it completed 776 homes in 2023/24, down from 1,178 the previous year, while its starts fell from 952 to 349.
The association said that its annual surplus has fallen from £40m to £3m in 2023/24, while its turnover has dropped from £642m to £608m.
It said lower rental and sales and higher repairs and maintenance costs were the main reasons behind the fall in surplus.
Southern increased its planned maintenance spend from £66m to £91m year-on-year while its reactive maintenance increased from £71m to £77m.
Southern is just the latest large housing association to look at shifting spend towards improving existing homes.
Clarion last month announced a plan to radically reorganise the 125,000-home housing association to focus on improved housing management and customer service.
L&Q meanwhile is exploring the sale of its PRS properties and strategic land company in an effort to “put residents first”, chief executive Fiona Fletcher-Smith said last month.
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