Clarion has boosted its operating surplus by six per cent from £289m to £306m for the financial year 2017/18, while its operating costs fell from £495m to £478m.

The association, which already owns 125,000 homes, built 1,263 homes in the financial year and started work on 1,428 more homes, investing £427m in the year, up from £196m spent in 2016/17.

Its pre-tax net surplus was slightly lower than the previous year, falling from £176m to £162m and the value of Clarion’s housing assets rose from £6.5bn to £6.77bn, mainly due to investments in new development.

By Patrick Mooney, editor