2006 Annual Report Published by Places for People

• 1250 new properties built – sales turnover increased by 53.2%

• 4000 customers’ homes upgraded

• Group now offering loans and mortgages

• Another year of strong financial growth for UK’s largest housing group

Places for People today publishes its 2006 annual review, revealing the development of around 1,000 new affordable homes and 250 private homes; and more than £17M of investment to modernise 4,000 customers’ homes.

The report shows that the UK’s largest housing and regeneration group is now responsible for managing 58,625 homes across the country; and offers a range of services including affordable childcare, financial services and elderly support to over 130,000 customers.

Key financial highlights reveal that:

• The Group now has assets totalling £2.3BN.

• Overall turnover of property sales increased by 53.2 per cent, from £29.7M in 2005 to £45.5M in 2006.

• Turnover was £255M, an increase of £28M against the previous year, whilst operating profit was £11.4M.

As well as posting strong financial figures, Places for People continues to make a major contribution to developing new homes. It developed 1,250 new homes last year and plans to increase this to 4,000 by the end of the decade.

It has also launched a range of innovative services in the past year to offer customers greater housing choice and support including:

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  • People to People Ambassador Programs and Habitat for Humanity Partner for Nine Home Project

  Places for People Finance which, in conjunction with the Co-operative bank offers would-be homeowners mortgages to help them onto the property ladder and customers low-cost loans in a bid to prevent them relying on high interest doorstep credit lenders

• Social Homebuy, which enables people to buy their home or a stake in it – from 25 per cent to 100 per cent – whilst claiming a discount. The scheme is helping 170 Places for People customers who have been priced out of housing, afford their own home - the scheme will be rolled out nationally later this year.

• The Futures Group, an innovative new service which will give customers a real voice in the future running of the organisation. Forty customers will meet regularly to debate specific housing topics and agree upon priorities for Places for People to take forward

• Project Renovate, a new in-house maintenance and repairs service to improve response times and customer satisfaction, whilst making better value of existing resources.

Commenting on the report, David Cowans, Chief Executive at Places for People said:
“This has been another productive and progressive year for Places for People, in which we have significantly expanded upon on our vision of creating successful and vibrant communities in areas where people want to live and work.

“The housing sector is rapidly changing and shifting towards a more market driven business, which means that organisations need to change their view of customers and design products and services around their increasingly diverse aspirations.”

“At Places for People we have taken significant strides to embrace the changing sector. Our fundamental ethos of listening to and working with customers and seeking to deliver innovative products such as low-cost loans and mortgages means that we can continue to improve people’s lives and create sustainable communities.”