Leadership team announced for merger landlord

The two major housing associations in the south of England plan to merge to become a 56,000-home landlord. The merged organisation will operate under the name Sovereign, and Spectrum Housing Group’s maintenance arm will continue to operate under the name Spectrum Property Care.

Richard Organ, currently chair of Spectrum, will be chair of the new organisation.

Ann Santry, currently chief executive officer at Sovereign, will be chief executive, and Richard Hill, currently chief executive officer at Spectrum, will serve as deputy chief executive.

The boards of the two housing associations have yet to formally approve the merger with a decision due to be taken in June. If the merger does goes ahead, the new organisation is expected to start operating “towards the end of the year”, according to a spokesperson from Sovereign.

Mr Organ said: “Bringing Sovereign and Spectrum together is a unique opportunity to build a stronger, more resilient and even more effective organisation. With Ann as the chief executive and with Richard in support, we are fortunate to have two influential and experienced leaders to drive the new organisation forward.”

Ms Santry said: “The new organisation will be a stronger social business creating economies of scale, which will allow us to deliver on our commitment to provide local services to our residents and build more homes to help tackle the housing crisis.”