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Housing association refuses Curo’s request for regeneration stock swap deal
A housing association has refused a request from Curo to swap 13 of its homes at the Foxhill Estate in Bath, which is set for regeneration.
Curo, which owns and manages more than 13,000 homes across the South West, has outline planning permission to demolish 542 homes on the estate and replace them with 700 new builds.
But 11,000-home landlord Knightstone has turned down an offer from Curo for a swap deal of its 13 units at Foxhill after residents rejected the move.
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Sonia Furzland, director of landlord services at Knightstone, said: “Curo approached us about the possibility of swapping 13 of our homes at Foxhill, including six at Bradford Park.
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked to our residents to seek their views and determined that the majority did not support a change in landlord.
“We have advised Curo that we will not be transferring ownership of these homes as our residents wish to remain Knightstone tenants. We will keep this decision under review should the views of our residents change.”
Knightstone owns 878 homes in Bath and North East Somerset.
Bradford Park – where Knightstone has six units – has been earmarked as the area for the first phase of Curo’s regeneration plans.
It is not yet clear if the homes could become subject to compulsory purchase orders (CPOs), but Tim Warren, leader of the Bath & North East Somerset Council, has previously promised he “will not sanction any mass [CPOs]” at the scheme.
Inside Housing has contacted the council to ask for clarification.
A spokesperson for Curo said: “We have held initial discussions with Knightstone about the regeneration proposals at Foxhill.
“There are no Knightstone homes in the early proposed phases of regeneration, so there is no need for any of their homes to be transferred to Curo at this stage.
“Knightstone has agreed to continue to monitor the way in which the regeneration progresses to ensure that they and their tenants can make informed decisions in the future.”
Last week, housing minister Alok Sharma said he will not call in Curo’s plans for Foxhill, despite the government previously saying that detailed permission could not be granted without its approval.
