A COUNCIL owned housing company needs a “complete overhaul and rethink”, a report found.

Berry Brook Homes Limited is facing a “slower than expected development pipeline” and increased pressure from new government housing policy.

A shareholder’s report read: “Deciding how Berry Brook can best achieve its objectives of providing dividends back to Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) and also deliver housing that is needed in the Borough, is under keen discussion with our sister companies.”

The company is set to purchase the 22 ‘key worker’ homes at the regenerated Peach Place in Wokingham town centre.

There's better news for council-owned Wokingham Houses Limited (WHL), however.

More than 120 homes built by WHL last year resulted in a profit of £600,000.

The company was able to pay back a £1 million loan to the council too.

WHL plans to build up to 75 houses a year for the next few years and in doing so aims to reach an annual profit margin of £1 million.

Despite this projections show the company will operate at a loss in the next financial year and will need to take out another loan from WBC to build houses before it returns to profit in 2019.

Loddon Homes Limited was set to make a profit for the first time since coming into operation in 2014 this year but is now expected to make a loss.

This is again because of a much lower than anticipated number of housing projects coming through.

It is now proposed that the company will make a profit in the 2019/2020 financial year instead.

The three companies are part of the WBC Holdings housing group.

The report outlined the necessity of the housing companies: “The Council has established a group of wholly-owned housing subsidiaries in order to provide much needed affordable housing across the Borough whilst generating a financial return for the Council.

“This return contributes to the Council’s aspiration of becoming increasingly independent of central government support.

“The housing group has now become well established.”

Last month the News reported that Wokingham Borough Council needs to build at least 900 new homes a year.

WBC has granted 11,000 permissions for homes that have not been built.

Councillors will hear about the progress of the council-owned companies at a meeting of the executive on Thursday, 27 September.