Riverside in talks to sell 1,200 homes

Riverside transferred 222 homes in Merseyside to Adactus Housing Association and 178 homes in Leicester to Sanctuary at the end of February. Those deals are understood to have been worth in the region of £12 million. The 50,000-home landlord wants to sell 1,200 homes by the end of 2010 and is in talks with a number of landlords over the remaining homes.

The biggest stock rationalisation came in October last year when Servite Houses transferred nearly 1,800 homes - more than 10 per cent of its stock - in a deal worth £60 million.

Following a merger with English Churches Housing Group three years ago, Riverside was left with homes in more than 180 local authorities. Its aim is to have 84 per cent of its stock within 10km of a main office. Currently 83.1 per cent of its stock meets that target. It has main offices in Merseyside, the north west, Cumbria, the east midlands, north east and Kent.

It is likely to focus on selling homes in Lancashire in 2010.

As part of the process Riverside has set up a framework for stock rationalisation consultants through the Official Journal of the European Union.

The panel is also open to other social landlords considering rationalising their stock. It will also launch a website to promote lower volume transactions, such as one-off properties for transfer, for its homes across England.

James Hill, director of property strategy at Riverside, said: ‘We carry out tenant consultation to ensure that people are informed about the sales and could offer their views on the choice of potential new landlords.’

A spokesperson for the Tenant Services Authority said: ‘The TSA is supportive of associations who wish to rationalise their stock holdings in order to provide higher quality services to customers which in some cases can be better delivered by a provider with higher levels of stock in an area.’

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