Plans for new 55,000-home landlord approved by both boards

Abri is based in the South of England and manages around 50,000 homes, while Octavia is a 5,000-home landlord with a head office in London.

At the time the initial merger plans were announced, Gary Orr, group chief executive of Abri, said the deal was about leveraging the benefits of scale, while making sure local teams are accountable for delivering services.

Octavia currently has a G3/V3 rating for governance and financial viability with the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and was placed on its gradings under review list in March last year.

In July this year, the English regulator gave Octavia a non-compliant C3 rating in its new consumer standards regime.

The RSH reported that Octavia currently has 1,200 overdue fire safety remedial actions across its 5,000 homes.

The landlord was unable to provide evidence that it is meeting other health and safety requirements and it does not hold complete and accurate records for safety inspections.

In May, ratings agency S&P affirmed the BBB credit rating for Octavia.

In October 2023, Abri completed another merger with a smaller landlord, Silva Homes.

Abri’s most recent accounts showed it spent £100m on improving its existing homes in its last financial year, including £18m on existing stock taken on from Silva Homes.

The landlord’s operating costs increased by £21m to £193m, partly due to extra staff costs from taking on Silva Homes employees, while the cost of repairs and maintenance rose by £9m.

In June, Abri said it was still on course to meet its 2030 development target, despite completions falling by 11.5% year on year.