December 2018 Special Report Preview: Special report: Pre-tax profit margins fall for the first time in years

The pre-tax profit margins of the UK’s largest housing associations fell in 2018 after several years of growth.

The pre-tax surplus of associations fell in all nations of the UK: by 27.7 per cent in Wales, 43 per cent in Scotland, 24 per cent in Northern Ireland and just under 10 per cent in England.

This meant pre-tax margins also dropped: by 3.6 points to 7.9 per cent in Wales; by 7.7 points to 8.9 per cent in Scotland; by 3.9 points to 9.9 per cent in Northern Ireland; and by 2.8 points to 18.7 per cent in England.

The margin of the 188 associations in the report fell from 18.9 per cent to 17.7 per cent between 2016/17 and 2017/18. The fall reflected a drop of nearly 12 per cent in the overall pre-tax surplus to £3.6bn in 2018 although turnover rose 3.3 per cent to £20.2bn.

Seventy-eight associations of the 132 in England analysed for this report saw a fall in their pre-tax surplus and five made a deficit.

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