Aster Group announces £1bn investment plan for existing homes

Aster Group has pledged to invest £1bn in upgrading its existing homes over seven years, after reporting steady revenue growth in its last financial year.

The new improvements programme, which is nearly double what the housing association invested in existing stock over the preceding seven years, includes a three-year partnership with WPS, the property services arm of construction firm Wates Group, to deliver sustainability upgrades to its homes across southern England. The works will include cavity wall and loft insulation, ventilation improvements, upgrading windows and doors, and renewable energy installations such as air source heat pumps and solar panels.

The commitment comes as Aster, which owns and manages nearly 38,000 homes across the south of England and London, announces revenue growth to £329.9m (2024: £313.7m) in the year to the end of March 2025, delivering an underlying profit before tax of £42.3m (2024: £41.1m as previously reported).

Statutory profit before tax over the same period was £11.7m (2024: £35.7m restated), accounting for two one-off costs relating to the closure of the Group’s Local Government Pension Schemes and additional outlay incurred by a joint venture with Vistry Homes.

The Group has also increased investment in existing homes year on year, spending £115m in the year to March 2025 (2024: £106.2m) on repairs and maintenance, while building 984 new homes over the same period.

The delivery total, which included 121 homes completed through joint ventures with housebuilders Vistry Homes and Thakeham, means that Aster has built more than 5,000 homes since 2020.

Bjorn Howard, Group CEO at Aster Group, said: “In what continues to be a challenging economic environment, we’ve made significant progress in transforming our existing homes while maintaining a healthy development pipeline.

“Aster is a long-term business, which means we have the imagination, perspective and opportunity to shape our plans for the benefit of generations to come. Strong financial performance underpins everything we do for our communities. It is why we can set out ambitious investment plans and play our role to ensure that thousands of people have quality, affordable homes that are safe, warm and secure.”

Aster Group has a projected development pipeline of 7,000 homes over the next seven years, through both land- and developer-led schemes, including a 1,500-home Strategic Partnership with Homes England.

The housing association, which holds a G1/V1 governance and viability rating from the Regulator of Social Housing and a stable ‘A’ credit rating from S&P Global, is also a leading developer of Community Land Trust (CLT) homes – having completed 13 schemes to date with a further four currently being built.

Bjorn added: “As we look ahead, demand for affordable and social homes is only going to increase. Our sustainable, long-term strategy gives us the platform to meet that demand – improving homes, building new ones and creating thriving communities through collaboration with our customers and partners.”