The Arlingclose team was very happy to be able to exhibit again this year at the NHF Treasury in Housing conference. It is always good to engage face to face with clients, prospective clients and sector stakeholders to hear about the key issues facing treasury teams in a time of continued financial and economic uncertainty.
For delegates who had a chance to visit our stand, we hope you enjoyed the option for a shoeshine which seemed to be a popular draw for attendees this year! Aside from giving delegates a chance to sit down and relax between the talks and breakout sessions of the day, it gave us a chance to have a range of constructive conversations with both our long-standing clients and some new faces.
Across these discussions, several consistent themes emerged. The ongoing cost pressures facing RPs, especially those with significant development and investment programs continue to create challenges. Especially given the persistent inflationary pressures that have been driving up prices, creating financial strain on forecasts, and necessitating careful forecasting and treasury planning.
Hand in hand with rising costs was the difficulty in securing flexible funding at reasonable rates. Restrictive covenants and a preference for security from lenders, combined with rising interest rates creates a difficult environment for many borrowers looking to find the right source of funding.
For RPs that have surplus cash balances, we found that there was hesitancy to deploy these more actively. Often there was uncertainty around future cashflows, concerns about investing in the current risk environment, or an expectation that balances would only be available for very short periods.
At Arlingclose, we support RPs in navigating these challenges through our tailored advice on funding strategies, investment management, risk analysis, and economic forecasting. Our flexible funding facilities arranged for housing association borrowers from local authority lenders can provide a source of competitively priced liquidity from value aligned lenders.
Through LiquidityEdge, we are happy to be able to provide assistance with liquidity investments to uncover and address any hidden inefficiencies and generate cost savings and yield improvements.
For those who attended the conference, we look forward to continuing our conversations with you and for anyone who was unable to attend, we would equally encourage you to get in touch! You can contact the Arlingclose team by emailing jscottsoane@arlingclose.com.