Landlord to focus on care provision after offloading 40 improvement agencies
Anchor to transfer HIAs to Hanover
Anchor Trust has announced it intends to pull out of its home improvement agency business and transfer all its branches to another provider.
The housing association, which specialises in property for older people, is in discussions with fellow specialist provider Hanover about handing over all 40 of its agency branches across the country. Hanover currently has eight HIAs.
The agency, Anchor Staying Put, is commissioned by 64 local authorities to provide home improvements to older and disabled people.
A source close to the agency said staff had been told the future of their jobs was under discussion. However, Anchor insisted that all 400 jobs at the agency were safe as it would be transferred intact to Hanover. The trust will not charge Hanover a fee for the transfer.
Home improvement agencies assist vulnerable homeowners and private sector tenants who are older, disabled or on a low income to repair, improve, maintain or adapt their homes. There are approximately 230 such agencies in England.
The transfer forms part of Anchor’s major restructure, organised in response to the government’s personalisation agenda (Inside Housing,
19 February 2010). A number of the organisation’s 10,707 jobs will be abolished. Those who lose their jobs will be offered first refusal on new roles.
Anchor has decided Staying Put is no longer an area in which it wants to specialise. It took the decision in order to concentrate more closely on housing and care provision.
Jane Ashcroft, chief executive of Anchor, said: ‘We have an ageing population facing increasingly specialist needs. It is important to us that we focus our services in specialist areas.
Staying Put is not in the areas where we want to grow and excel — providing housing and care services exclusively for older people.’
Hanover said it was considering the finer detail of the proposal before reaching any final decision. Bruce Moore, chief executive, said: ‘It is still very early days but Hanover is very excited about the potential to take on more HIAs.
‘This will enable Hanover to help more older people to improve their homes and make housing choices.’
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