New 3,000 home Yorkshire-based housing association launches today

54North Homes officially launches today. The new 3,000-home housing association, which will be a subsidiary of northern housing association Karbon Homes Group, has been formed by two longstanding Yorkshire-based registered providers, Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association (LYHA) and York Housing Association (YHA), coming together to operate as one.

The decision to form 54North Homes follows a thorough consultation process, where both organisations sought the views of their colleagues, customers and stakeholders. This consultation feedback, combined with a detailed due diligence process, shaped the final business plan which was approved by the respective boards in September.

Since then, the LYHA and YHA teams have been working closely together to establish the new organisation. The partnership aims to deliver excellent services to customers by having the increased strength and opportunities of being part of a larger group whilst retaining the local approach and understanding of their local customer base.

Steve Secker, chair of York Housing Association, has been appointed as chair of 54North Homes and Mark Pearson, chief executive of Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association, has been appointed as managing director.

Mark comments: “I am very excited about the partnership and believe it will offer many benefits to us all, but most importantly to our customers, as it will enable us to continue to invest in developing our services and offer additional support in a very tough economic climate.”

Paul Fiddaman, group chief executive, Karbon Homes said: “We’re really looking forward to LYHA colleagues joining the Karbon family as 54North Homes. YHA has been a subsidiary of Karbon for five years and this partnership has resulted in increased investment in homes and services as well as the development of many new homes in the Yorkshire area. It has also seen YHA customer satisfaction increase.

“We are very proud of what has already been achieved and we believe 54North Homes will enable an even greater positive impact for more customers in the Yorkshire area.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily