Hyde in talks to take on troubled London landlord

Anita Khan, chief executive of THCH, branded the chance to join Hyde an “exciting opportunity”.

“We chose Hyde as a potential partner because our goals and values strongly align with their dedication to the community and commitment to doing more,” she said. 

“We understand that some residents might feel uneasy about the idea of joining a larger housing association, but this partnership will strengthen our ability to provide local services.”

THCH is launching a six-week consultation with its residents about the plans.

If the tie-up goes ahead, Hyde said it will introduce a new, dedicated, in-house repairs service for THCH’s residents and “speed up” investment in homes and building safety projects.

In its judgement last year, the Regulator of Social Housing said THCH’s financial position was “weak” and it faced a “substantial programme of fire remediation work up to the end of 2025-26”.

Andy Hulme, chief executive of Hyde, described THCH as a “great organisation that shares our commitment to customers and communities”.

“We’re at early stages of our conversations with the THCH team, but we wanted to let our customers and stakeholders know as soon as possible. There’s no change expected for existing customers, and we’ll keep people updated as we move forwards.”

In its last reported year to the end of March 2023, THCH fell to a deficit of £9.4m on turnover of £26.5m.

Both boards will have to sign the plans off, which will be subject to due diligence, Hyde said.

THCH was established in 2000 to take a transfer of 1,249 homes owned by Tower Hamlets Council. It took further estate transfers in 2004 and 2006.

Before the merger talks with Poplar Harca were abandoned, dozens of THCH residents staged a protest at the landlord’s office London over feeling left out of the discussions.

THCH later defended the conduct of its proposed merger consultation after residents complained that its process was discriminatory.