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Cairn acquires fellow Scottish housing association
The Scottish housing association Cairn has acquired another social landlord ANCHO.
ANCHO’s tenants voted in favour of the move in July, and the Scottish Housing Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority have both given their consent.
As a result of the acquisition, the Cairn Group plans to continue local services from the ANCHO team in Irvine, where it is based, with support from 3,500-home Cairn Housing Association, also part of the Cairn Group.
The group has also pledged to invest an additional £4.5m in the homes of ANCHO tenants and guarantee affordable rent for five years.
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On the Castlepark Estate, Cairn has begun installing external wall insulation and re-roofing as part of this new investment.
Jason MacGilp, chief executive of the Cairn Group, said: “This is an important day for Cairn, ANCHO and our local tenants in North Ayrshire. Tenants have shown a great deal of trust in Cairn and we are determined to honour that and deliver the promises we have made.
“Joint working and integration planning have been in place for some time. With all consents now in place, everyone at the Cairn Group team is looking forward to the first steps in our journey together.”
This move follows Cairn borrowing £50m in July in a private placement from an unnamed US insurance company to help it build 400 new affordable homes over five years.
Sonya Campbell-Perry, chair at ANCHO, added: “We are delighted to have started our new partnership with Cairn. Both organisations, as part of the new Cairn Group, are committed to creating thriving, well run and sustainable communities that people are proud to call home.
“This partnership will bring considerable benefits to ANCHO tenants.”
Jim Montgomerie, cabinet member for place at North Ayrshire Council, said: “We welcome this news and look forward to working with our partners in the months and years to come as we seek to deliver high quality housing for the residents of North Ayrshire.”
Inside Housing defines acquisitions as large organisations adding a smaller housing association to its group as a subsidiary or amalgamating the smaller group into its company entirely.
In this instance, the associations themselves use the term ‘partnership’.
