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Large housing associations agree 1,000-home stock swap deal
One of the North East’s largest housing associations is to take ownership of more than 1,000 homes in Middlesbrough and Hull after completing a stock acquisition agreement with Clarion Housing Group.
Thirteen, which owns 34,000 homes in the region, has today completed the deal to buy the Clarion homes after a six-week consultation with residents.
The deal is the latest example of stock rationalisation by Clarion, the country’s largest housing association, as it seeks to offload stock and shrink its geographical footprint.
In March last year, the housing group sold 936 homes in South Shields and 251 in Newcastle to Riverside. In 2019, the association sold 154 homes in the Staffordshire area to Stafford and Rural Homes and agreed a deal to sell 306 properties to Preston-based Community Gateway Association.
The movement follows an announcement made by Clarion in 2017 that the group intends to sell up to 10,000 properties over the coming years.
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At that time the housing group owned stock across 160 local authority areas, which chief executive Keith Exford described as “arguably too many”.
The latest deal, between Clarion and Thirteen, was formally completed on 26 July, and will see Thirteen take over the management of sheltered housing schemes and other community buildings as well as 1,000 residential homes.
Ian Wardle, group chief executive at Thirteen, said it was the housing association’s aim to help build “resilient communities” as well as invest in the newly acquired buildings.
“As an ambitious organisation, we are always looking for opportunities to grow our geographic reach as well as solidify our status as the leading landlord in the North East. This opportunity allows us to expand further into Yorkshire, where we already have a presence and are keen to grow,” he said.
Thirteen is one of the the largest landlords in the North East, with more than 34,000 properties on its portfolio and around 70,000 customers across Teesside, the North East and Yorkshire.
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