Karbon Homes has strengthened its portfolio after agreeing to purchase over 1,300 homes from another social landlord, The Guinness Partnership.
The multi-million pound deal is a major stock acquisition within the UK’s affordable housing sector.
The deal makes good business sense for both partners, and customers will benefit from the transfer to Karbon Homes, a locally-based landlord which is well-placed to take over the ownership and management of their homes.
The properties that have transferred to Karbon are located in a similar geographical footprint to existing Karbon Homes’ properties and so Karbon is able to easily deliver services to its new customers. Guinness will use the receipts to invest in building more homes – so more people have the chance to live in an affordable home in England.
Many of the homes are located in Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside and Northumberland, where Karbon already has a strong presence.
There are also homes included in the transfer that are located in Redcar & Cleveland, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, allowing Karbon to build on its ambition to deliver more good quality homes and services in the North East to support more people in building stronger foundations for lives.
The transfer includes a mix of general needs housing, older person’s accommodation, supported housing, shared ownership/leasehold and commercial properties.
Karbon will offer former Guinness customers exactly the same high level of service as its existing customers in the region and has welcomed 20 Guinness colleagues who have transferred to the team as part of the agreement.
The acquisition delivers economies of scale for Karbon’s operating model, delivering maximum value for money from its property services and housing management teams.
The deal with The Guinness Partnership, which legally completed yesterday (Monday 21 May), comes five months since York Housing Association became an independent member of the Karbon Homes group.
Karbon Homes now owns and manages close to 30,000 properties across the North East and Yorkshire, from Berwick in the north down as far as Leeds to the south.
Paul Fiddaman, chief executive of Karbon Homes, said:
“This is an exciting step forward allowing us to provide more people with a strong foundation for life.
“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone on both sides who has worked hard on this project, to ensure a smooth handover from one landlord to another.
“We would like to welcome our new customers to Karbon, and our staff will make sure they will benefit from all our high quality services.”