Peabody seals £200m Thamesmead deal

Peabody, which dates back to 1862, has struck a deal with 6,000-home Gallions Housing Association under which Gallions will become a subsidiary from the autumn. The combined organisations will have a total stock of almost 27,000 homes.

As tipped by Inside Housing in January, the deal was drawn up to help finance a comprehensive regeneration of the Thamesmead estate in south east London, which will result in 700 new homes and community facilities being built over the next decade.

The estate, which won design awards when it was built in the late 1960s, became blighted by vandalism and fell into disrepair.

Peabody will also take on Gallions’ 50 per cent share in property investment company Tilfen Land, which owns much of the land in Thamesmead. Staff were told of the merger last week. Tony Cotter, chief executive of Gallions, will stand down later this year. The remaining members of Gallions’ senior management team will be integrated into Peabody’s staff, and the two organisations have set up an integration committee to establish the wider staffing structure. 

Steve Howlett, chief executive of Peabody, said he was ‘really excited’ by the regeneration plans.

‘The grouping agreement sets out the merger, but it also sets out the ways in which we can work with other partners such as local authorities and funders [already working with Gallions]. We’re establishing a 10-year plan for Thamesmead - it’s a long-term job,’ he said.

‘We recognise that Gallions wanted to regenerate Thamesmead, but they’ve realised that it’s difficult for them to have sufficient resources to be able to move that forward.’

Mr Cotter said: ‘This agreement with Peabody will help us accelerate our regeneration plans and achieve our aim.’

The two organisations have a combined development programme of more than 1,500 homes by 2015 as part of the government’s affordable homes programme.