L-R: CEO Chan Kataria with Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan at the Waterside Court Loughborough opening
Leicestershire-based social housing and care provider emh group has had its A+ rating and stable outlook affirmed by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
In its report S&P noted the group’s ongoing focus on social housing where there is a continuing high demand. The development programme, which has previously focused on affordable rent, is however moving towards more shared ownership homes – around a third of new properties will be for sale – including a small number of homes for outright sale as part of multi-tenure developments.
In 2018 the group was appointed one of Homes England’s strategic partners, one of eight ambitious housing associations chosen by the Government to deliver more affordable homes. Securing £30.5m in grant funding in the process, the decision has enabled the group to increase its development of new homes by 80 per cent over the next four years. This will see around 2600 affordable homes built in the East Midlands by 2023, and increasing the stock managed by the group by 13 per cent.
The report also highlighted that the group’s operational performance continues to improve, particularly around areas impacted by Universal Credit.
Chan Kataria, emh group Chief Executive, said: “The affirmation of our strong credit rating comes at the end of the year in which we were appointed one of Homes England’s strategic development partners. This confidence in our financial strength means that we can continue to pursue our ambition to deliver 2600 new high-quality energy efficient homes over the next five years.”
