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Tower Hamlets mayor condemns last stage of Clarion merger

Plans to merge the last of the former Circle subsidiary landlords into the Clarion Group have sparked a row with the local council.

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Old Ford’s proposed merger into Clarion has been condemned by the Tower Hamlets mayor #ukhousing

Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs is “deeply disappointed” at Old Ford’s decision to press ahead with the Clarion merger #ukhousing

Ahead of Old Ford’s shareholder vote on the Clarion merger, Tower Hamlets mayor has come out against it #ukhousing

Tower Hamlets association Old Ford was originally merged into Circle, which itself merged with Affinity Sutton in 2016 to form 125,000-home Clarion, the UK’s largest housing association.

Clarion amalgamated all of Circle’s subsidiaries into its group earlier this month, except Old Ford, where troubles with repairs led to a 2015 warning from the Regulator of Social Housing (previously the Homes and Communities Agency).

The board of Old Ford voted in favour of merging in November, but shareholders still have to meet to make the final decision.


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John Biggs, mayor of Tower Hamlets, told Inside Housing he was “deeply disappointed” at the board’s decision.

He added: “While being part of one of the country’s biggest housing associations could bring benefits, the lack of local management is a significant problem for many residents, particularly given it was a term of the original transfer agreement [from the local authority] that decision-making would remain locally accountable.

“The council is now exploring all our legal options for enforcing that element of the transfer agreement.”

Tower Hamlets Council voted unanimously in November to complain to the government and the regulator if the merger were to go ahead, and the mayor has met with Clarion to explore alternatives.

A Clarion spokesperson said: “Clarion is committed to continuing to work alongside Tower Hamlets as we seek to improve the services delivered to the tenants of Old Ford.

“We will explore any arrangements which we judge to be in the best interests of local residents. In response to the recent consultation, tenants told us overwhelmingly that what they wanted was a good service. We are committed to providing that.”

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