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Karbon Homes announces merger talks
Northern landlord Karbon Homes has announced it is exploring a partnership with another provider in the region.
The 32,000-home association is in discussions with the Newcastle-based Leazes Homes about joining Karbon.
Leazes is currently part of the Your Homes Newcastle, the ALMO of Newcastle Council.
Leazes will become a subsidiary of Karbon and transfer the management of all of its homes to the association in July if the partnership talks are successful, according to a stock market update.
Paul Fiddaman, group chief executive of Karbon Homes, said: “We’re pleased to have been selected by the board of Leazes Homes as its preferred partner.
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“We’re now undertaking all relevant due diligence checks, which will then be followed by a consultation with Leazes Homes’ tenants.
“The aims and values of Leazes Homes very much align with our own – in terms of providing good-quality, affordable homes and local services in a shared geography as well as our focus on supported and specialist housing.”
Leazes was set up in 2009 by Newcastle Council and became a registered provider in 2012.
Dawn Keightley, chair of Leazes, said: “Our commitment to providing the best possible services to our tenants and communities remains our top priority, and we believe that Karbon is well positioned to help us continue to do this. Karbon Homes is a well-known and trusted organisation with an excellent reputation within the area.
“We understand that change can be unsettling, but I’d like to assure our tenants that a thorough consultation process will be carried out with all Leazes Homes tenants to ensure that their opinions are heard and listened to in relation to the partnership.”
In November, Karbon reported an increased pre-tax surplus of £21.9m for the six-month period ending on 30 September 2023. The figure represents a 37% increase on the same period in 2022, when a pre-tax surplus of £13.7m was recorded.
Karbon said this increase was partly due to £4.7m of negative goodwill from its acquisition of South Tyneside Housing Ventures Trust in July 2023.
Turnover for the latest six-month period was £98m, up from £84.2m last year. However, Karbon’s overall operating margin including asset sales remained within a few percentage points of the previous year at 26.8%.
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