The results of the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) latest quarterly survey show that private registered providers invested £3.9 billion on building and acquiring new homes between 1 October 2024 and 31 December 2024.

The RSH says that social landlords are making vital improvements to tenants’ homes and building new homes for the future and are continuing to invest record amounts in new and existing stock, though there are indications that development spend has peaked.

Spend on repairs and maintenance totalled £2.3bn in the quarter. In the year to December a total of £8.7bn was spent, with a further £9.8bn forecast for the next 12 months.

Over the next year, landlords plan to spend a further £14.8bn on development, £10.5bn of which is currently committed. This is a reduction from £15.6bn of planned spend and £10.9bn of committed spend forecast in the previous quarter, meaning forecasts are now at the lowest amount since the start of the pandemic.

Lending to the sector remains robust, with £2.6bn of new finance arranged in the quarter.

However, a high level of debt drawdowns resulted in a decrease in undrawn available facilities and cash balances remain at historically low levels.

Total cash and undrawn facilities of £33.4bn are still enough to cover forecast interest costs, loan repayments and development for the next year.

Aggregate cash interest cover (excluding sales) stood at 82% for the 12 months to December 2024 and forecasts show a further deterioration is expected.

Performance varies among individual landlords. Some of the lowest levels of interest cover are driven by high levels of spend on existing stock by some large providers.

The RSH says it continues to monitor and engage with landlords, particularly those that have a reliance on sales to support their cashflows.

Will Perry, Director of Strategy at the RSH, said: “Social landlords continue to face pressures on multiple fronts.

“The sector is building substantial numbers of new homes for the future, with actual and forecast development spend close to pre-pandemic levels.

“That said, there has been a drop in forecast development spend as landlords continue to invest record amounts on existing stock, including on vital work to improve fire safety and damp and mould.

“Our regulation is key for investor confidence and we will continue to scrutinise the sector’s financial performance and its ability to manage risk through these surveys, alongside our inspections and stability check programme.”