Housing associations set for merger to create £250m organisation

The boards of The Wrekin Housing Group and Housing Plus Group said they have decided to take the "next steps towards a formal merger".

The formal merger is expected to take place in January 2025 when all the legal and regulatory requirements have been completed.

A statement from the organisations said that at that point The Wrekin Housing Group will become part of the new Housing Plus Group.

The organisations have stressed that the changes will not affect any of their customers' rights to live in their homes.

They said: "There will be no changes to existing tenancy or lease agreements as a result of the merger. Customers will continue to access the services they need by contacting their landlord the same way and dealing with the same teams they do now."

Leading the new organisation will be Wayne Gethings, who has been appointed the 'chief executive designate' of the new Housing Plus Group.

The statement said that Mr Gethings will work alongside Catherine Dass who has been appointed the chair designate, and Debbie Griffiths, who will be the senior independent director and vice chair.

Ms Dass is currently a board member at Housing Plus Group and Ms Griffiths is a Wrekin board member.

After 38 years working in the housing sector, Sarah Boden, chief executive at Housing Plus Group has made the decision to retire.

A statement from the associations said: "The decision taken by both boards was supported by an in-depth due diligence process, customer and employee consultation and a strong business case.

"A total of 3,549 Wrekin and Housing Plus Group customers responded to a consultation putting their voice right at the heart of this merger.

"Residents of both Wrekin and Housing Plus Group see repairs as a key priority for the merged organisation, along with improvements to their homes, building new homes and feeling safe in their homes."

The merged organisation will be one of the largest housing associations in the West Midlands with 34,000 homes.

Mr Gethings said: “Our combined geography will enable the new organisation to maintain its local focus, investing in additional community hubs to take services even closer to customers and maintain strong connections with communities across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Telford & Wrekin.”

The statement added that the merged association would invest more than £50m in its existing homes over the coming years.

It said: "The merged organisation will respond to the clear priorities expressed by customers in the recent consultation. It plans to invest an additional £55 million in existing homes, and will be a key developer of new homes over the next five years. This will help cement the new organisation’s leading role in providing affordable homes and care across our communities.

"The new merged organisation will also increase its social impact, whether that be developing many more new homes for those in housing need, accelerating improvements to existing homes, or investing in the health and wellbeing of residents."

Ms Dass said: “This is an exciting time for Housing Plus Group and the merger will help us to make a real and lasting positive difference to the people and communities that we serve. We look forward to bringing our combined expertise together to support people right across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Telford & Wrekin.

"I would also take this opportunity, on behalf of everyone at Housing Plus Group, to thank Sarah Boden for her 38 years’ service in the social housing sector, including as a chief executive of Severnside Housing and then Housing Plus Group. She leaves Housing Plus Group in a strong and healthy position as we step forward in to this merger.”

Ms Griffiths said: "Bringing our two organisations together will enable us to invest more in our existing homes, as well as creating more new homes for our future customers. This is a big moment for all our customers, employees and partners as we look to the future and deliver on our customers priorities.”

Outlining the plans for the new organisation they added that it will "continue to work with and listen to customers, and in doing so be able to provide even better services for them", "be more resilient. Increasing investment in existing homes, while also growing our capacity to build more social homes", "remain connected to the communities we already serve while having a larger voice in the region, with 1,800 employees, 34,000 homes and a turnover of more than £250million, we will create additional regional economic impact", and "provide more opportunities for our employees and be a great place to work".