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Two North West landlords to merge to create 24,000-home group
Two North West-based housing associations are officially set to merge next month to create a 24,000-home group, after announcing a partnership nearly a year ago.
Great Places, which manages 19,000 homes across the North West and Yorkshire, will take on the tenants of neighbour Equity Housing Group as part of the deal.
The two groups revealed last May that they were embarking on a “long-term partnership” but declined to say if it was a merger.
Great Places’ chief executive Matthew Harrison, who will run the new combined group, said the two associations were an “excellent strategic and cultural fit”.
Manchester-based Great Places has a 10-year development plan that includes building 8,000 homes. Two years ago, it bagged a £29.2m Homes England grant to build 750 affordable homes by 2022 as part of that plan.
It is also one of 10 Greater Manchester housing associations that are part of a £30m joint vehicle with Greater Manchester Combined Authority called Hive Homes, which aims to deliver homes in the North West.
In its last full year, Great Places reported a post-tax surplus of £13.7m on a turnover of £109m. It spent £36.1m on development and built 281 homes.
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Cheadle Hulme-based Equity, which was founded in 1963, currently operates 4,600 homes for rent and shared ownership across Greater Manchester, Stockport, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Merseyside, Yorkshire and Shropshire.
It employs 130 staff and reported a surplus of £3.5m on a turnover of £24.1m in the year to March 2019.
Chair Carole Hassan said: “By combining the financial strength of both housing associations, our partnership will create a financially robust organisation with enhanced capacity and resilience.”
The transfer is due to complete on 1 April, when Equity’s tenants will move over to Great Places. The change will not affect tenants’ rights and tenancies are not at risk, the groups said.
