S&P Rating Review - July 2020

Housing 21’s rating has been affirmed at 'A' by S&P.

View the report here

On 24 July 2020, S&P affirmed the long-term issuer rating of Housing 21 at ‘A’ with a stable outlook.

Standard and Poor’s remarked

“H21's ratings strengths remain primarily strong demand, its risk-averse strategy, and its improving asset quality and operational performance. In our view, H21's focus on tenants aged 65 years old and above results in strong demand for its services. England has a rapidly ageing population, with the Office of National Statistics forecasting annual growth in the number of people over 65 years old of nearly 2% until 2029. In our opinion, this strong growth in H21's target customer base will support demand. Also supporting demand are H21's nationwide presence and low average social housing rents compared to market rents.”

Paul Weston, Chief Financial Officer for Housing 21 stated:

“Our Standard & Poor’s (S&P) rating has recently been reconfirmed as A (stable). Our focus continues on providing more homes for older people whilst also investing significantly in our existing properties which is reflected in our financial profile from a rating perspective. Our development plans focus on providing over 75% of these properties as rented with the balance being shared ownership with no outright sales.”

“We are proud of our Extra Care Living Offer, working with local authorities to provide housing and care for older people of modest means. Providing care services in our Extra Care properties does result in lower care margins compared to property margins, but these services are integral to the overall outcomes to our residents in providing an integrated housing and care offer.”

“The future for demand for our services remains strong, as a result of the ever-increasing number of older people for our properties and the social value and wellbeing outcomes these services provide.”

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