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Large landlords complete merger to form new 82,000-home association
Two large housing associations in the South of England have merged to form a new 82,000-home landlord.
The new housing association, Sovereign Network Group (SNG), announced its formation yesterday following a tie-up between 61,000-home Sovereign and Network Homes, which managed 21,000 properties.
The new organisation will be a member of the G15 group of London’s largest landlords, and will manage more than 82,000 homes with 210,000 customers across London, Hertfordshire and the South of England.
The proposed merger was announced in March and the final business case was approved by Sovereign and Network’s respective boards in September.
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Sovereign boss Mark Washer has taken over as chief executive officer of SNG, while Network boss Helen Evans is deputy chief executive at the new association.
Paul Massara is chair of SNG and Jon Gooding is the deputy chair.
The combined group is forecast to have an annual income of around £830m in 2024-25.
It plans to spend £9.2bn over the next 10 years to build 25,000 new homes.
In June, Sovereign’s governance rating returned to G1, after it was downgraded a year ago because of issues regarding its health and safety data. It retained its V2 status for financial viability.
In January last year, Sovereign breached the Home Standard for failing to have clear records of whether a fire risk assessment was required in the communal areas of 2,000 of its blocks.
On the merger, Mr Washer said: “This is an important moment for SNG, but we are now absolutely focused on delivering the benefits for our customers and future customers. Our combined strength gives us the opportunity to remain ambitious in our plans to create more homes, and more sustainable homes that people can love living in over many generations.
“This commitment to our environment and enabling wider social success within our communities is built into SNG from the very start.”
Centrus acted as financial advisor on the merger, led by Lawrence Gill and Paul Stevens.
