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Large Scottish association named preferred partner in housing transfer

Small Scottish association Weslo Housing has chosen Link Group as its preferred partner to which to transfer all of its homes and services.

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The Falkirk Wheel (picture: Getty)
The Falkirk Wheel (picture: Getty)
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Large Scottish association named preferred partner in home transfer deal #ukhousing

The Link Group has been named as the preferred partner to take on all of Weslo Housing's homes #ukhousing

The association has completed a six-week selection process has and chosen Link Group, one of Scotland’s largest social housing landlords, to take it over.

Weslo owns 400 homes in Falkirk and Bo’ness, in central Scotland. Link Group owns around 6,500 homes primarily in Falkirk, Edinburgh and across the central belt of the country.

Weslo’s decision to transfer the homes was taken in June after a strategic options appraisal was carried out earlier this year. This included a stock condition survey of Weslo’s homes, which found that its properties would require major investment over the next 30 years.


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A customer satisfaction survey carried out before the in-depth assessment also found that the majority of tenants were unhappy with the condition of their properties.

However, Weslo found that it would be unable to carry out the improvements and keep rents low, so as a result it investigated alternative options and found that transferring its homes to a large and financially stable landlord was the best route.

Weslo and Link Group will now put together a business case for the takeover and submit it to the Scottish Housing Regulator.

If the business case is accepted, a tenant consultation and a secret ballot will be carried out to decide on whether to support or reject the transfer.

Kate Dewar, chair of Weslo, said: “Link Group demonstrated that it is financially strong and has a track record of providing good local service delivery, with very high levels of customer satisfaction.

“While it is Weslo tenants who will decide through a secret ballot whether Weslo will transfer to Link Group, the Weslo board wanted to provide an option that can deliver on the required levels of investment in homes, and provide high levels of customer service while keeping rents affordable.

“We are convinced from Link’s historical and current performance that they will offer this for Weslo tenants.”

Ross Martin, chair of Link Group, said: “We are delighted to be named as Weslo’s preferred partner for the transfer of its homes and services. We look forward to working with Weslo’s team to deliver a joint business case, focusing on improving services for Weslo and Link tenants and their communities.”

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