Two housing associations in Dorset plan to join forces after working together on a stock transfer.
Purbeck Housing Trust is being set up in partnership with East Dorset Housing Association to receive homes in a transfer from Purbeck council.

Purbeck council tenants voted on Friday by 70% to 30% in favour of transferring their 1600 homes to the trust. The turnout was 79%.

The trust plans to invest around £40,000 in each home in the next 30 years, taking them beyond the decent homes standard. It will start looking for funding early next year.

The two landlords plan to become a group headed by a new parent company. The group, to be set up in the spring, does not yet have a name.

It will comprise East Dorset Housing Association, which has more than 2800 homes, its 30-home charitable subsidiary Howell Housing Association and Purbeck Housing Trust.

Recent research said Purbeck was the least affordable place to live outside London, with almost nine in 10 households unable to afford homes in the lowest price bracket (HT 23 May, page 10).

The council has lost around 1500 homes through the right to buy since the policy came into force – half its original stock – making it difficult for the council to operate a cost-effective service.

Source

Housing Today