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Riverside and One Housing boards approve merger deal to create 75,000-home landlord
The boards of Riverside and One Housing have approved proposals to merge and create a new 75,000-home landlord.
The boards of Riverside and One Housing have approved proposals to merge #UKhousingThe boards’ approval has cleared the way for One Housing to join Riverside as a subsidiary from 1 December.
The approval follows a six-week tenant consultation process across both organisations.
Nearly half (48%) of those who responded were in favour of the merger proposal, 12% were against and the remainder (40%) were neutral.
News of a merger were unveiled in June after a torrid couple of years for One Housing, which reported an £8.6m pre-tax loss in January for the 2019/20 financial year.
The housing association, which owns and manages 17,000 homes, saw its losses grow in its latest results, published in September, as it posted a £25.5m pre-tax loss for the year to end of March 2021. This was due to rising fire safety costs, impairments on proposed developments and the impact of the pandemic.
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Riverside, which owns and manages 58,000 homes, saw its surplus soar by 70% from £28.8m to £49m for the year to 31 march 2021 as a result of acquisitions which increased its social rented housing stock and rent rises, the landlord’s latest financial results have revealed.
Riverside stated in a stock market announcement in June that it would work in partnership with One Housing on the merger process.
The merger will create one of the country’s largest landlords, with over 75,000 homes, and consolidate Riverside’s position as one of the UK’s largest housing association providers of supported housing services.
Carol Matthews, chief executive of Riverside, said: “I am absolutely delighted that our respective boards have agreed to proceed with this partnership proposal. This marks a key moment in our journey towards the vision we have shared since the outset, which is simply about us being better and stronger together than apart.
“Through this partnership we firmly believe we will be able to do more for our customers, more for our communities, more for our sector and offer more opportunities for our colleagues.”
Richard Hill, chief executive of One Housing, added: “The journey we’ve taken together over the past 10 months has led to us developing a shared vision of the future based on what our customers have told us matters to them.
“Above all, it’s been a journey characterised by a real sense of trust and collaboration that’s rooted in our shared belief in the social value of good quality housing.
“Our journey continues, and there’s still a tremendous amount of work to do over the next two years to make our vision a reality. However, at this important milestone we’d like to thank all our colleagues, partners and customers who have contributed to the process.”
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