Abri and Silva complete merger to create 50,000-home group

In March, the neighbouring housing associations revealed that they were in “advanced discussions” to merge with an outline business case agreed. They then confirmed their plan to merge on 7 September following the approval of a final business case presented to both boards.

Abri has previously said that as a “larger, financially stronger and more resilient organisation”, a new regional approach will be introduced. This will split the group’s operating area into three: South West, South and South East.

Silva forms part of the new South East region. Each region will have its own local governance and leadership, including a regional managing director and regional board.

Gary Orr, group chief executive of Abri, has previously said that the merger will result in a stronger organisation that can invest more in its existing and new homes.

Mr Orr said: “We’re delighted to confirm the partnership between Abri and Silva has completed. As a financially stronger and more resilient organisation, we’ll be able to continue delivering quality homes and services for our customers and better connect to our local communities to meet their diverse needs.”

Dasos Christou, South East regional managing director at Abri, said: “Our new regional model is a new approach for an organisation our size to remain rooted in the communities we serve, and it will ensure that we better meet the diverse needs of our customers.

“We’ll empower our housing teams to be more visible and accountable to our customers and have better knowledge of our local communities.

“I’m excited about what we can achieve for our customers in the region, creating a customer dividend to invest in services that make the biggest difference to our customers’ lives and making the most of our collective experience to make this new approach a success for all customers.” 

Centrus acted as financial advisor on the merger.

Both Abri and Silva are currently graded G1/V1 by the Regulator of Social Housing.

According to their most recently published results, Abri’s pre-tax surplus rose from £28.3m in 2021-22 to £43.9m in 2022-23, while Silva saw its surplus drop by 63 per cent year-on-year to reach £3.4m in the year ending 31 March 2022.

According to its results, Abri completed a record 1,017 homes in the year to the end of March 2023, an increase from 850 during the previous year.

The completion of the merger follows the announcement that Sovereign and Network Homes have merged to form 82,000-home Sovereign Network Group, which manages over 82,000 homes across London and the South of England.