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Luminus completes Places for People merger
A housing association has completed its merger with Places for People, following a turbulent year which saw its long-standing chief executive depart.
Luminus Group, based in Huntingdon, has formally joined Places for People as a subsidiary.
It will retain its local identity, offices and management team as part of the deal and will seek to build 1,000 homes in the area over the next five years.
Chan Abraham, the former chief executive of Luminus, resigned in June after the organisation was downgraded to a non-compliant G3 rating by the social housing regulator in January last year.
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It followed an internal audit which revealed at least 1,000 of its 7,640 homes had not had an up-to-date gas certificate for some part of the previous two years.
It later emerged that there were also issues with electrical safety testing, and the Health and Safety Executive opened an investigation.
The regulator also attacked the housing association’s governance more generally, warning that “board members of Luminus are not discharging their duties with adequate skill”.
Luminus announced it had selected Places for People as its merger partner in October last year, and today marks completion of the final stage of the deal with sign off from the Financial Conduct Authority.
Nigel Finney, managing director of Luminus Group, said: “Joining the Places for People Group is a major milestone for Luminus, which will benefit our customers, staff and the communities we work in.
“The opportunity to enhance our services and build more new homes as part of one of the UK’s largest and most forward-thinking housing providers is a pivotal moment in Luminus’s history.”
David Cowans, group chief executive at Places for People, said: “Luminus Group is an ideal partner for Places for People.
“The partnership with Luminus Group will not only provide a new operational base for Places for People in Cambridgeshire – it will also enable us to rationalise our housing stock in the region, to deliver greater efficiencies that ultimately improve local services.”
Social landlord Places for People will add Luminus’s stock to the 60,000 social housing units it manages nationwide.
It previously added Derwent Living as a subsidiary to its group in January last year, which also followed a downgrade from the regulator.
Places for People also has a property management and leisure centre business.
