Affinity Sutton and Circle Housing Group merged to become Clarion Housing Group last month.
Clarion Housing Group will be the largest housing association in the country and one of the largest housebuilders in Britain.
It will more than double the supply of new homes that the two former organisations could build - without relying on any government subsidy. The Group will prioritise affordable housing with around two-thirds of its programme for affordable rent and low cost home ownership, helping to tackle the housing crisis head on.
In addition to becoming one of the country’s top housebuilders, Clarion Housing Group will place a strong focus on providing locally responsive, reliable services to residents and remains committed to investing in its communities. It will invest £150 million over the next ten years in programmes to improve lives, delivering the biggest social investment programme in the sector.
A regional structure will ensure the Group continues to play a key role in local decision making and maintains close working relationships with communities. It will also be investing in easy-to-use services accessible from residents’ homes as well as increasing support for those who need it most.
Keith Exford, Group Chief Executive of Clarion Housing Group, commented: “We have created Clarion Housing Group in response to the acute need to deliver more affordable housing. We are significantly increasing our capacity to deliver the homes our country so desperately needs as well as our ability to transform lives. But equally important, we want to be the housing provider of choice, delivering good services to our residents.”
Sir Robin Young, Chairman of Clarion Housing Group, said: “Today marks the beginning of Clarion Housing Group, a new type of organisation that is committed to improving the lives of residents now and for years to come, by building more homes and investing in communities. By successfully combining forces and rising to the Government’s challenge set to all housing associations to deliver more for less, Clarion Housing Group will help more people to prosper and take control of their own future.”
James Murray, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, commented: “We look forward to working closely with the newly merged Clarion Housing Group to deliver much needed affordable housing in London. I welcome Clarion’s commitment to double the number of homes they will build with a mix of low cost rent and home ownership schemes that will be attractive to many Londoners on low to medium incomes.”