If in doubt, invest in bricks and mortar.

Published by Julie Jones NWHA for North Wales Housing Association in Housing and also in Communities

At a time when most organisations are looking to rein in spending wherever possible, North Wales Housing has just revealed some £11.6m of expenditure on new schemes, and £1.1m on improvements to its properties for the financial year ending 31 March 2010.

All in all, the housing association added 63 new homes to its stock during the year, with  another 118 homes in the process of construction. These developments were largely funded by a £10m loan facility from the Royal Bank of Scotland.  A spokesperson for the RBS said:

“We are delighted to assist North Wales Housing with the ongoing support of its development programme. The programme will provide much needed affordable housing to the local area within which NWH operates. RBS funding support reaffirms our commitment to this sector, and to affordable housing across Wales”.

Decreasing interest rates on North Wales Housing’s borrowings also had the effect of freeing up still more funds, enabling it to increase the budgeted spend on planned maintenance by £350k. This means that North Wales Housing spent a total of £3.6m on the maintenance of its properties during the year. According to Yvonne Wilkinson, Resources Director at NWH:

“£3.6m is a huge sum of money for an organisation of our size, but it reflects the importance we place on providing tenants with the very highest quality accommodation possible. What’s more, this is an ongoing commitment – we currently have reserves of some £4.6m designated specifically for future repairs to our properties.”

The housing association is already well into a comprehensive programme of works designed to bring some of its older properties up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by the end of 2012.