Blog

After a busy 2012 – £3.9 billion raised on the public bond markets alone – can the sector sit back and focus on its commitments and aims?

Less than ever it seems. In the new environment a housing association hoping to play it safe is walking into unknown territory – so does consciously opting to be adventurous increase risk?

We take a look at this and other questions likely to come up in 2013 and beyond in our finance conference on Thursday 16th May: ‘New Risks, New Rewards’.

We will cover modelling and planning for the new risk landscape and whether the sector has the tools for the job.

Meanwhile individual housing associations face restricted revenues and difficult growth – we ask how viability can be achieved in this environment.

The causes of the instability include the coalition government’s mid-term strategies of inflation caps – and how they compound concerns about the introduction of Universal Credit.

If Universal Credit is supposed to encourage tenants to manage their finances independently then an inflation cap on any part of their income cannot be isolated from their ability to pay rent.

Our speakers will also tackle funding, the private rented sector, local authority joint ventures and the fate of SHPS.

Our annual conference takes place tomorrow (Thursday 8 November) with a line-up of 10 speakers chaired by Julian Ashby, chair of the HCA's regulation committee. We have two speakers from the HCA as well as leading figures from banks, service providers and housing associations. 

Next month's issue of Social Housing Magazine will report on the event but we will attempt some live coverage via our Twitter account @housingmagazine and encourage any other tweeters to use the #beyond2015  hashtag. 

Midland Heart has issued a £150 million bond with a margin of 196 bps over the gilt with a total cost of funds at 5.087 per cent.

The details are available on its website and show that £50 million will be held in reserve  (Genesis recently sold £50 million of reserve bonds - the first sizeable sale of reserve bonds in the sector). 

Midland Heart's annual report for 2011/12 showed a £14 million surplus.

More details will be available in our October publication.