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Two Southern housing associations in advanced merger talks
Two housing associations in the South of England have announced they are in merger talks to create a new 45,000-home landlord.
The tie-up would see the smaller Berkshire-based Silva Homes become a subsidiary of 40,000-home landlord Abri.
The associations said an outline business case has been agreed and that the landlords are now in “advanced discussions” about the merger.
If it goes ahead, the union would create a new 45,000-home landlord that will work on behalf of 114,000 customers in the South of England.
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A final decision on the merger is expected later in the year, subject to the outcome of customer consultations, gaining the approval of Silva’s shareholders and the agreement of both boards to a final business case.
Once these have been agreed, a new regional approach will be proposed within Abri, making it “directly accountable to customers on all the issues that are important to them”.
However, the landlords said that until this time, there will be no immediate change for customers and colleagues of Abri or Silva.
The plans to merge the two organisations would also bring Silva’s development aims into Abri’s strategic partnership with Homes England.
According to the associations, this could lead to additional new homes provided in the region.
Gary Orr, group chief executive of Abri, said: “Abri and Silva offer each other an excellent potential fit.
“Alongside our geography, we share the same fundamental purpose and very similar objectives. Most importantly, we’re both committed to delivering the best possible services through local teams who are close to their customers and communities.”
Alan Ward, chief executive of Silva, added: “Silva and Abri are strong organisations, and our boards believe that together we will be better placed to improve services to our customers and be more financially resilient. Combining resources and capabilities is in the long-term interests of our customers and we’ll have more capacity together than apart.”
Headquartered in Hampshire, Abri is one of the South of England’s largest housing providers with 40,000 homes across 37 local authorities.
