One Housing formally merged with Riverside
London-based provider One Housing has formally joined Riverside after registering the merger with the Financial Conduct Authority.
Picture: Getty
Sharelines
Last month, the organisations’ boards announced that the two would merge, creating one of the country’s largest housing associations, with more than 75,000 homes.
One Housing will act as subsidiary of Riverside – which manages around 58,300 homes across the UK – for up to two years and will retain its own subsidiary board.
After that, One Housing and Riverside will integrate into a single housing association with one board and leadership team.
A six-week customer consultation process took place across both organisations in which nearly half of those who responded were in favour of the proposals and 12 per cent were against, with the rest neutral.
Read more
G15 landlord One Housing, which manages more than 17,000 homes and plans to build 5,000 over the next decade, was downgraded to a G2 rating by the regulator in January this year, while its last full year report showed that its pre-tax deficit had grown to £25.5m.
Last month, credit rating agency Moody’s highlighted concerns around both landlord’s “underperformance” on market sales, as well the significant fire safety costs facing One Housing.
The credit ratings agency has since downgraded Riverside Group’s ratings to A2 with a stable outlook.
Moody’s said the downgrade reflected the impact of merging with One Housing, describing the latter as having a weaker credit profile on top of the increased risk from its “ambitious development programme” and market sales exposure.
The two organisations have donated £75,000 to local food banks to mark the partnership, representing £1 for every home the merged group manages.
Carol Matthews, chief executive of Riverside, said: “We know the rise in the cost of living is putting pressure on everyone’s household budget, and this is being felt acutely amongst many of our customers.
“In line with our shared social purpose, we want to do more to support our customers and those in greatest need. This money will be used to help fund the vital work of food banks supporting the communities we serve.”
Richard Hill, chief executive of One Housing, said: “At this time of year, the work of food banks is needed perhaps more than ever so this felt like a really appropriate way to mark our two organisations joining forces.
“Our commitment, however, goes far beyond this, and this should be seen as a down payment on one of the six key pledges we have made to our customers. Through this we will be investing an additional £2.5m each year to strengthen our communities.”
- © Social Housing
- All rights reserved