Last updated 24 September 2021
Orbit Group
Orbit Group is a registered social landlord (RSL) that owns or manages around 46,000 homes in the Midlands and the South East. The group is based in Coventry and subsidiaries include Orbit South, Orbit East and Orbit Heart of England.
The group has a development operation, Orbit Homes, one of the largest development pipelines of any RSL in the UK, and has a development pipeline of 7,300 units.
Financials
Turnover at Orbit has grown steadily in recent years and in 2021 reached £355 million (2020: £323 million) but the operating surplus fell to £112 million (2020: £131 million).
To view the financials for Orbit Group, visit the group’s website here.
Operations
All players in the RSL sector face a challenge as a switch to affordable housing being provided at up to 80% of the market rate, but Orbit is one of the largest developing housing organisations in the country and built 4,006 homes between 2008 and 2013 across rented, low cost home ownership and outright sale tenures.
In September 2021, Orbit was one of 31 partners chosen by Homes England for grants in its £5.2 billion Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26. Orbit was awarded £104 million to deliver 1,500 homes.
In the 2021 survey of the top 50 developing housing associations by Inside Housing magazine, Orbit completed 848 homes of all tenures during the period April 2020 to March 2021 (2018: 1,520). This total ranked Orbit in 13th position in terms of completions and these homes cost £205 million (2018: £310 million) with just £15 million from this total figure coming from government grant (2018: £24 million).
In 2019/20, Orbit built 123 units for social rent (2020: 120) and 312 for affordable rent (2020: 455). In terms of work in the pipeline, Orbit expects to complete 1,141 units in 2021/22 and 7,296 units over the next five years.
Orbit’s latest accounts show 848 new homes delivered with a plan to build 6,500 new homes over the next five years. A total of 228 market sale properties (2020: 183) and 361 shared ownership properties were sold (2020: 329), resulting in property sales of £117 million (2020: £90 million).
Glenigan Data
In the 12 months to Q2 2021 calendar, Glenigan recorded contracts awarded by Orbit worth just £4.9 (2019: £1.0 million).
The group also submitted detailed planning applications to build 117 units in 2020 (2019: 331).
Conclusion: Challenges lie ahead
In early 2020, Orbit hoped to complete 1,539 new homes according to Inside Housing’s annual survey but the impact of the pandemic saw the group deliver nearly half this figure. As a result, the surplus from the delivery of new homes crashed to £22 million (2020: £45 million) and the operating margin fell from a record high to 31.5% (2020: 40.0%).
Due to the pandemic, the investment in new and existing homes also reduced £219 million (2020: £324 million) but much of the delivery has come through a partnership with Homes England and Orbit was again a big winner in the grants awarded covering the 2021-26 period.
The group had been building larger developments such as the Dereham Development in Norfolk, which provided nearly 300 homes (Project ID: 11269816) and the third phase of Thrapston development in Kettering (Project ID: 13109243) but these schemes are nearing completion or complete.
Schemes starting on site in 2020 include the 280 unit Erith Park scheme (Project ID: 18388273), but more recently direct spending on construction has shrunk. The average contract awarded by Orbit in the 12 months to Q2 2021 was valued by Glenigan at £2.5 million (2020: £1.0 million), but this is partly a reflection of Orbit building out its own developments.
Major projects being developed out include parcels of the Marham Parkway development in Suffolk (Project ID: 20108421). The size of developments in the pipeline has reduced but remains on relatively larger schemes focused on delivering housing. In 2020, the average detailed planning applications comprised 117 units (2019: 165 units) and in the latest year all of these proposed units were some form of house (2019: 97% housing/3% flats).
Orbit has been looking for alternative avenues for development including joint ventures with local authorities. This could be jeopardised by growth in council house building.
Financial pressure and competition for land will undoubtedly continue, and this is increasingly reflected in a financial strategy that, in terms of development, is more akin to a commercial housebuilder than an RSL but Orbit will remain one of the country’s largest developing housing associations.
Winning Work with Orbit Group
Orbit often builds out its own projects, or on larger major social housing work develops projects in joint ventures with other groups including other RSLs such as Croydon Churches and private developers, such as Chartaway.
Orbit also works in conjunction with local authorities, such as the London Borough of Bexley on the Larner Road estate, which Wates Living Space is delivering.
In 2013, Orbit closed its inhouse maintenance arm, Property Matters. In 2014, Orbit agreed a £250 million responsive maintenance contract expected to last eight years with Ian Williams, Mitie and Willmott Dixon for its Heart of England subsidiary.
Glenigan’s research shows that, where Orbit uses main contractors, these include smaller companies such as Deeley and Wellington.
Information on working for Orbit as a supplier including how to register and obtain tender documents electronically is available here. Orbit also uses existing frameworks, including the Housing Procurement Portal, which can be viewed here. Orbit works with Proacitis to improve procurement and information on this is available here.
The group’s professional services division is Service Matters, which is a division of the Orbit Group.
Key Orbit procurement contacts include:
Head of capital delivery – Mark Drury, tel: 01234-436436
Regeneration & partnership director – Maggie McCann, tel: 01234-436436