Notting Hill and Genesis in £700m merger

The pair told the stock market that the new organisation will be called Notting Hill Genesis and that deal should be completed at the end of 2017.

A statement said the new organisation will build around 2,700 new homes a year, which is 400 more than the pair could achieve separately.

The merged body will own and manage over 64,000 homes with a vacant possession value of £19.3bn and with a turnover of around £700m. Half the homes will have social or affordable rents.

Notting Hill’s chief executive will lead the new organisation with Genesis’s chair Dipesh Shah keeping the same role.

Genesis’s finance director and deputy chief executive Elizabeth Froude will become deputy chief executive.

Neil Hadden, Genesis’s chief executive, did not apply for the role at the new organisation since he was committed to a ‘merger of equals’ and Genesis’s chair is chairing the new body, a statement from Genesis said. The association had no further comment on his decision.

He will remain as Genesis chief executive until the merger completes. The intention is for this to happen at the very end of 2017 but it could be early in 2018.

Paul Hodgkinson, chair of Notting Hill Housing, ‘had recently extended his term of office to oversee the transition to merger, but never intended to remain past that point’, the statement said.

The deal follows a merger between Genesis and Thames Valley which was called off in August last year a month before it was due to go ahead ‘due to differences in style and approach’.

Genesis chief executive Neil Hadden said: ‘I have always believed that there should be more consolidation within the sector so that our capacity can be utilised better to provide more homes and improved services for our customers. To that end, this merger makes complete sense and I am pleased to have been involved in getting it off the ground. I look forward to continuing to lead Genesis until the merger is complete in early 2018.’

Deputy chief executive designate, Elizabeth Froude, said: ‘I am very pleased to be taking up this role in what will be a fantastic organisation, built on the legacy of two housing associations with deep and common roots and purpose. We will take the best of both to allow us to continue to deliver a good service to our many and diverse customer groups, in the ever complex environment in which we operate.

‘I believe this merger will bring us the resilience to be innovative in how we adapt our services to meet the demands of our current and future customers.’

Chair designate, Dipesh Shah, said: ‘Uniting two associations with a common culture, a common vision and an aspiration to enrich their social purpose augurs well for the future of the merged entity. I look forward very much to being part of it and to helping the new organisation on its journey.’

Kate Davies, chief executive designate, said: ‘Bringing together two housing associations with similar backgrounds, shared values and a strong social purpose will allow us to provide more of the homes London needs, for those who most need them.

‘This is an exciting challenge for all of us and I’m very much looking forward to leading this new organisation, which has the will and resources to be even more innovative, ambitious and influential together than we could separately.’