CIH to vote on fee increase after reporting £1.2m loss

The Chartered Institute of Housing is voting to raise subscription fees after suffering a loss of £1.2m.

The change will be voted on at the CIH annual general meeting at Harrogate in mid-June. It will be part of a financial restructuring that will see the institute reform its investments to leave it less exposed to the stock market falls that led to the loss.

The CIH's annual report for the 2002 calendar year showed that the value of its stock market investments – like those of many other investors – fell by £496,404.

The balance of the £1.2m came from expanded losses in the charity's conference, course and publishing activities, where it saw a trading loss of £941,500. This performance was an improvement on the £1.8m operating loss made in the previous year. However, this included a one-off loss of £1.2m on the stock exchange and £777,500 on other activities – property value gains made up the total.

David Butler, CIH chief executive, said: "In the past our investments generated an operating profit, but the fall in the net value of the institute by £1.2m will hopefully turn around when the markets start to pick up."

He said that he had put in place cost-cutting measures – not involving redundancies – to cut the deficit to £300,000 this year.

He added that he hoped to raise an extra £50,000 a year from the subscription hike and a continued membership drive: CIH membership has risen 25% in the past five years.

A CIH member said the £14 hike in fees for fellows and corporate members, to £226 a year, and £13 for associates, to £183, was not of great concern because the CIH traditionally had lower fees than other bodies such as the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The RICS charges its fellows £456 each year.

But the source added: "Members will be looking for the institute to start making inroads into reducing the operating loss."