Introduction
Welcome to Baker Tilly’s latest social housing credit crunch survey.
The last time we reported on the impact of the credit crunch in March 2009, senior executives within the sector were certainly painting a rather mixed picture.
On the one hand, economic sentiment at March 2009 had worsened and a greater number of organisations were admitting to be facing problems with their banks. At the same time however, 77% said they expected social housing to remain a Government priority and over half thought that the amount of money available through the HCA would stay the same or increase.
The economy since then has deteriorated further and though GDP is expected to start rising again early in 2010, the social housing sector is arguably facing up to some even bigger challenges. The inevitable cut in public sector spending, a reduction in rental income, and the uncertainty of a General Election are just some of them.
With this in mind, we felt it would be interesting to take another look at the sector to see if it was possible to gauge a shift in attitude.
Once again we have compiled the opinions from ALMOs, LSVTs and traditional housing associations. Our survey was conducted in October and November 2009 with in excess of 100 respondents. 40% own and manage between 2,500-10,000 units, while 24% have property portfolios exceeding 10,000.
We believe you will find that the report provides an interesting and useful insight into the sector as our previous ones have. As always, if you would like to discuss any issues contained within it, or have comments, please do contact me or one of my colleagues.