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Housing associations pause merger talks amid coronavirus crisis
Merger discussions between two Scottish housing associations have been placed on hold as both organisations deal with the coronavirus crisis.
Pentland Housing Association had originally planned to transfer its 500 homes to Cairn Housing Association but these plans have now been postponed until after the coronavirus crisis has passed.
In a joint statement, the Scottish landlords said: “Cairn Housing Association and Pentland Housing Association are pausing partnership discussions that would have seen Pentland homes and services transferring to Cairn.
“At a time when social housing providers are responding to the significant challenges posed by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the focus of both organisations must be on ensuring essential services are provided to tenants and other customers.”
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Last August, Pentland, which owns just under 500 homes in Caithness, announced plans to transfer its assets to 3,000-home Cairn following an open tender exercise.
The decision came after a senior officer left the housing association, which is based on the northern coast of Scotland.
Cairn and Pentland said they hope to “resume discussions and continue to assess the potential business case in the best interest of tenants” later in the year.
The pause in talks follows news that the Scottish Housing Regulator will shift its focus to monitoring the impact of coronavirus on social landlords across the country.
As a result, the regulator will postpone all but the most critical of regulatory engagements and will delay publishing updated engagement plans for landlords, except in the most critical of cases.
