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Housing associations complete merger to form 25,000-home organisation
GreenSquare and Accord Housing Association have merged to create a new 25,000-home housing and care organisation.
The partnership came into effect on 1 April, creating a new landlord, GreenSquareAccord, which owns homes spanning from Newcastle upon Tyne to Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The landlords first announced they were exploring a potential partnership in February last year.
Former chief executive of GreenSquare, Ruth Cooke, has been appointed the chief executive of the new organisation, while former Accord chair Elisabeth Buggins is chair.
Before merging, Accord was one of the largest housing and social care organisations in the Midlands, managing 13,000 homes and providing care to roughly 80,000 people.
Meanwhile, GreenSquare managed more than 12,000 homes in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
By merging, the organisation said it aims to improve services for existing customers, invest more in local communities and build more affordable homes with an ambition to develop 1,000 new homes per year.
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GreenSquareAccord now has over 100 care and support schemes and will deliver over three million hours of care every year.
It follows a number of other high-profile merger announcements in the sector, including the announcement by PA Housing and Accent Group last week that they were in talks to form a 43,000-home landlord.
In February, Southern Housing and Sanctuary announced they were exploring a potential merger that would see them create the largest housing association in the UK.
Ms Cooke said: “This merger has successfully joined two organisations with the same values and ambitions for expanding and enhancing locally-focused services to customers.
“We now have the scale and capacity to build hundreds more new homes each year, and to increase available resource for investment in our existing homes.
“We will also be able to widen our overall offer to customers by increasing the breadth of our services such as care and support, building for sale, community–led housing and modern methods of construction.
“It is a merger of equals that has created a stronger and more resilient organisation that’s more ‘future-proof’ and ready to deal with future challenges.”
Ms Buggins added: “This merger of equals will create a strong and more resilient organisation which is better equipped to provide great services for people and to innovate as we respond to a changing world.”
Kate Henderson, chief executive at the National Housing Federation, said: “The launch of GreenSquareAccord marks another positive chapter for these strong organisations. I am very much looking forward to working with them as they deliver more affordable homes and innovative solutions to tackling the housing shortage. I wish all involved in the newly merged organisation the very best for their work together.”
Vic Rayner, chief executive of the National Care Forum, said: “We are really pleased that Accord and GreenSquare have merged to form GreenSquareAccord. By creating a larger organisation, with a wider geographical reach, we are delighted that over time more people across the country will be able to benefit from their excellent care and support services.”
