Association boards to consider merger decision (CHANGE COPY FOR ONLINE)

Two major housing associations were due to make a decision about whether to proceed to the next stage of their 47,000-home merger this week.

Genesis and Thames Valley Housing Association (TVHA) first announced they were in merger talks in November, and said boards would consider a full business case within three months.

This was due to be presented to boards of both organisations after Inside Housing went to press, with a decision due on Thursday night.

Chair of Thames Valley, said: “XXXXX” QUOTE TO COME CHASING MARTIN

Genesis, which recorded a pre-tax surplus of £36.5m last financial year from a turnover of £281.9m, owns 33,000 homes mainly in London with a net value of just under £2bn.

TVHA booked a lower surplus of £20.3m in 2014/15 from a turnover of £88.2m, and owns 14,500 homes with a book value of £626m mainly in the South East of England.

Genesis recorded gearing, the ratio of debt to assets, of 46.4% in its 2014/15 accounts, with net debts of £1.4bn at the end of the year. TVHA had a gearing ratio of 47% and net debt of £513m.

Both organisations have a significant commitment to private rented housing; TVHA through Fizzy Living - its joint venture with Abu Dhabi-based wealth fund Silver Arrow - and Genesis through a number of investments including the high profile Stratford Halo in east London.

The merged organisation will plan to build 3,000 new homes per year, including 1,800 “affordable” properties. An outline business case was approved in November. The decision on Thursday would not be a final one to merge, which would still depend on consultation with tenants and stakeholders.