We’re pleased to announce performance highlights from our 2020/21 financial year, including plans to deliver at least 10,000 new homes by 2030 with an estimated investment of £1.9 billion.
Over the past 12 months, as well as continuing to look after our 80,000 customers across 35,000 homes, we completed 801 new homes between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, and secured plots for a further 1,333 new homes for the upcoming financial year’s pipeline.
Commenting on our performance, Gary Orr, Group Chief Executive at Abri, said:
“Globally, 2020 was a challenging year and it’s right that I start by thanking our colleagues for continuing to support our customers and making sure more people have a safe and warm home. Despite the challenges of the pandemic and current operating environment, we’re making steady progress against our strategic plans. I’m pleased that our teams delivered 801 new homes this year, providing much-needed affordable homes in our communities.
“2020 also saw a pivotal moment in Abri’s journey, with the launch of our new name, brand and corporate strategy, Achieving Together 2020 – 2025, last October following the partnership of Radian Group and Yarlington the year before.
“We’re looking forward to the next financial year and delivering on our pipeline to provide even more affordable new homes – at least 25 per cent of which will be built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).”
In our long-term commitment to delivering at least a quarter of our properties using MMC, Abri is moving at pace and we announced partnerships during the 2020/21 financial year with leading organisations BoKlok, ilke Homes, and Keepmoat Homes. The partnerships will see at least 900 sustainable, high-quality modular homes delivered over the next five years – a significant step in helping to tackle climate change and something that’s high on Abri’s agenda.
“We’re creating a culture of low carbon thinking across all our activities to deliver meaningful and measurable change for colleagues, customers and communities,” Gary said. “We’re investing at least £215 million in our existing homes over the next five years, helping to address climate change and making sure our homes are sustainable places where everyone can grow, thrive and belong.
“During the past 12 months, we’ve also started making big changes to the way that we work to reduce our carbon footprint. We’re adopting an agile way of working, reducing the need to travel as much and making our workspaces more environmentally friendly. Although this was always our long-term goal, the pandemic speeded things up and we’ve been able implement some really positive, flexible changes for both colleagues and the environment much sooner.”
In the wake of the pandemic, the community plans that Abri put into place during 2020 will pave an important path to recovery, according to Gary.
“Community investment remains a significant part of our activities and will be essential in the recovery phase of the pandemic,” he said. “We launched our Community Strategy in June 2020, outlining our £15m five-year investment to make sure we’re driving change where it’s needed most. The investment will empower our communities, help get more people into work through training and employment support, and increase health and wellbeing.”
Earlier in the year, we announced we had retained our A3 credit rating from Moody’s, reflecting our strong liquidity and commitment to deliver more homes and reinvest in existing properties. We’ve also just been awarded G1 for governance and V1 for financial viability in its first In Depth Assessment (IDA) since becoming Abri - the highest regulatory rating a housing association can achieve.
