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Affinity Sutton and Circle press ahead with merger
The boards of Affinity Sutton and Circle have agreed to press ahead with plans for a 128,000-home ‘mega-merger’.
The housing associations yesterday announced that their respective boards have formally approved the deal. The organisations were not able to confirm exactly when this approval was agreed.
The merger now just needs approval from regulator the Homes and Communities Agency, which is expected to consider the deal in September. Legal completion of the merger will follow “as soon as practically possible after that”, the associations said.
The announcement of board approval follows other major sector mergers falling apart in recent weeks, with Housing & Care 21 and Sanctuary, L&Q, East Thames and Hyde, and Genesis and Thames Valley all backing away from plans to join forces.
Sir Robin Young, chair of Circle and chair designate of the new housing association, said: “We have recently seen the collapse of a number of planned mergers in the sector.
“Given this I am very pleased that our respective boards have put in place both the formal agreements and the structures to ensure the successful merger of Circle Housing Group and Affinity Sutton.”
The new proposed organisation plans to build 50,000 new homes in the 10 years from 2019, making it one of the biggest builders in the UK.
The organisation would have a combined turnover of £825m and a surplus of £231m according to the most recent financial statements.
The associations say they hope the merged organisation will “lead on major neighbourhood transformation projects” around England.
Talks over the merger of the two organisations were exclusively revealed by Inside Housing last summer, the first in a flurry of large landlords to announce plans to merge.
The boards of 58,000-home Affinity Sutton and 70,000-home Circle Housing then approved a business case to merge in December last year, with designate board and executive appointments made in February.
Work towards successful merger, including further designate appointments, discussions with funders and resident consultation has since taken place, the landlords said.
