Shaftesbury Housing Group has become the second registered social landlord to be publicly awarded a credit rating.
Up to 130 more associations could benefit from being rated, according to rating agency Standard and Poor's director of public finance Nick Preston. He said: "The market cannot survive in its present form – there needs to be consolidation."

Preston said Surrey-based Shaftesbury's A– rating, with a stable outlook, was "a strong rating". It matched companies such as Rolls Royce and British Telecom and was better than Stagecoach and BskyB, he said.

The highest possible rating – given only to major economic units – is AAA, while the lowest, for extremely risky outfits, is CCC.

Preston said the benefits to Shaftesbury of having a rating included foreign funders being more able to understand the business and potentially invest in it. Shaftesbury wants to increase its number of units from 11,000 to 14,000 during the next five years, it is understood.

Standard & Poor's has provided private ratings for other housing associations, but Kent's Broomleigh is the only other one to make its rating public. It was awarded a BBB+ in December 1999 but was upgraded to A-minus earlier this year. A rigorous financial audit is involved in getting a rating.

Source

Housing Today