Two South East landlords enter merger talks to form 30,000-home group

At the same time as the proposed merger, Paradigm announced its plan to buy nearly 3,500 homes in South Buckinghamshire from L&Q, the large London landlord. As a result, the post-merger organisation would own and manage 30,000 homes.

Vicky Savage, executive director – development and sales at L&Q, said: “We have started to discuss the details of a possible transfer to Paradigm, and residents will be formally consulted before a final decision is made. We believe that Paradigm, a locally based organisation, may be better placed to provide an excellent service in the area.

“As an organisation, we consider homes for transfer where they sit outside our core areas of Greater London and Greater Manchester. This supports our strategic decision to focus our activity on areas where we have the greatest concentration of homes, enabling us to provide responsive, joined-up services which offer best value for residents.”

L&Q was unable to comment on the commercial value of the stock.

Settle owns more than 10,000 homes across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and South Cambridgeshire.

Last year, Gavin Cansfield stepped down as chief executive of Settle to take the helm of Moat Homes. He had led Settle since 2015.

In a joint statement, Matthew Bailes, chief executive of Paradigm, and Rod Cahill, interim chief executive of Settle, said: “We are delighted to announce these proposals today. Paradigm and Settle share the same geography and focus on core social housing. Both organisations want to deliver excellent services, high-quality homes and more new affordable homes to help tackle the housing crisis. 

“We believe that by joining together, we can work more efficiently and cost-effectively, achieving more for our residents and the communities where we work.

“With the proposed addition of the homes from L&Q, we will be able to deliver the advantages of scale while remaining locally focused.”

The partnership between Paradigm and Settle will be subject to registration by the Financial Conduct Authority and further approval by the boards of both associations and relevant shareholders.

Paradigm posted a surplus of £14.2m for the six months to the end of September 2024, up slightly from £14.1m the previous year.

In its annual results for 2023-24, the landlord’s surplus rose 15.7%, although its operating margin was dented by one-off legal and impairment costs.

Earlier this year, Paradigm partnered with house builder Vistry and Leaf Living, a Blackstone-backed build-to-rent housing provider, on a 370-home scheme near Oxford.

Vistry pre-sold 139 of the homes to Paradigm, with the housing association offering these for shared ownership and affordable rent.