Tenants to be consulted on housing merger

TENANTS and leaseholders from Warrington’s Golden Gates Housing Trust – part of Torus – are being asked their views on proposals to amalgamate with Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH) later this year.
A six-week formal consultation has launched, giving every GGHT customer the opportunity to help shape plans for a new, larger North West housing group.
Consultation packs have been sent to almost 38,000 homes owned by Torus and LMH across Liverpool City Region and Cheshire, with participants able to share their views by post, email, telephone or in person by attending a local consultation event in early July.
The packs explain how a larger group would work to achieve greater impacts and influence across the three heartland areas of Warrington, St Helens and Liverpool, while maintaining a strong focus on tenants, customers and communities.
They claim the group would:
* Continue to invest in high-quality services that meet customers’ needs – now and in the future
* Provide wider housing solutions and choices for people needing homes, including those with specialist support needs. An ambitious development programme would deliver at least 4,700 new homes within 5 years
* Invest more in neighbourhoods, delivering services that make a big difference to people’s lives
* Boost the regional economy by reinvesting income back into the local area.
A joint statement from Torus Group chief executive Rob Young and LMH chief executive Steve Coffey said: “Consulting our tenants and leaseholders is an essential part of the amalgamation process and will help shape our future direction.
“We believe Torus and LMH are a great fit and that amalgamation offers exciting opportunities to do more and do it well. Together, we aim to create an exciting new organisation that will have even greater positive impacts on the communities we serve and build a significant additional number of affordable homes.
“Customer views are really important at this stage and we would encourage all tenants and leaseholders to read the information provided and let us know what they think before the consultation ends on 31st July.”
The outcomes of the tenant and leaseholder consultation and other consent processes will be considered by the boards of Torus and LMH in the autumn, which means that the amalgamation could happen later this year.