The housing association — which owns and manages around 58,000 homes across the South — is a provider of affordable housing and aims to deliver 1,900 new homes a year.

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Other highlights from the trading update included:

• it currently has 58,163 units under management
• turnover for the quarter was £100.5m compared with the £97.4m recorded in the same period last year
• the operating surplus for the quarter was £38.9m compared with £42.2m in the same period last year 
• net margin on all sales was 24.6% (same quarter last year: 22.1%)
   

Sovereign has also revealed that it agreed a £229m joint venture deal with housebuilder Crest Nicholson to deliver 920 new homes in Bristol.

"To help deliver our development aspirations, we agreed a groundbreaking three-year £250m unsecured revolving credit facility, syndicated across five lenders,” said Barry Nethercott, chief financial officer at Sovereign.

“It will provide the flexibility and liquidity we need to decide on the best time to approach the debt capital markets to raise long-term funding."