Amicus Horizon - policies in place for disposal considerations Amicus Horizon owns and manages just under 28,000 homes across London, Kent and Sussex, offering a range of different housing choices including affordable homes, shared ownership and extra care. Amicus Horizon’s stock analysis tool assesses which properties are viable or unviable in the long term. It looks at a range of data including: rental income; historic maintenance expenditure; future planned maintenance expenditure; turnover of tenancies; and energy efficiency. The tool ranks properties according to performance scores against these criteria, and shows which properties are performing well and which are presenting issues. Amicus Horizon says: “We’ll carry out a detailed options appraisal on poorly performing properties before we take any decisions. We’ll consider whether we are able to improve the property or if sale is the best option. We’ll examine all information to ensure we make the right decision for each property. We’ll usually want to sell properties that aren’t viable in the long term. “When we decide to sell, we’ll ensure we gain sufficient value from the sales programme to be able to build more new properties than we sell.” How SDS Stock Profiler has improved Sovereign’s approach to asset management Sovereign owns and manages around 38,000 homes across the South and South-west, and aims to add 1,000 new properties each year for the next three years. One of the largest housing associations in England, it offers a wide range of tenures including affordable rent, shared ownership, private rent and outright sale. To support its strategic asset management strategy, Sovereign has worked with Shelton Development Services in the evolution of NPV modelling by jointly developing the SDS Stock Profiler. Strategic asset management is about efficiency and adding business and social value, and this value can be defined as a combination of financial, social and political factors. Clearly, each of these value components has different weighting according to the asset under review, but the base information in all cases is the financial model. This needs to be flexible and able to align the inputs with the organisation’s business plan, and apply a consistent approach throughout the asset’s life. To deliver the financial modelling, many organisations develop complex spreadsheets but this presents problems because of their size and stability. For example, manipulating data is time-consuming and there is often less flexibility and more potential for error. Sovereign and SDS wanted something that would deal with large volumes of data quickly, flexibly and safely. It also had to align easily to business plan data and deliver end-to-end modelling within the asset life. The SDS Stock Profiler system helps the strategic asset management team to fulfil its principle purpose, namely understanding the value that each asset contributes to the business. It allows investment decisions to be made, by enabling an understanding of the financial impact of these decisions and thus assessing the overall value. The model is used in a number of different ways. Macro-level asset management has resulted in a stock rationalisation exercise across a number of tenures. And on a micro level, investment, remodelling or disposal options for individual properties can be evaluated and correct-value decisions made. Five top tips for assessing whether to keep or dispose of stock 1 3 5 Have clear processes policies and procedures in place for decision making relating to retaining or selling properties. It is essential to know how stock is performing. Do not underestimate the importance of collecting accurate data. 2 4 Take account of the future needs of residents. Take account of business needs. Do you need to dispose of assets because the business plan demands it to invest in new stock? Or to support future development? Ensure you take into consideration the social value of the assets. As housing associations we are social businesses and this should not be lost. 15
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