FAQs

How would you be affected if Grand Union and Longhurst Group come together as a single organisation? 

Who would be my landlord? 

Grand Union would still be your landlord. However, we’d look to have a new name to reflect the new partnership. 

Would my rent and service charges go up? 

No. Your rent and other charges would not change because of the merger. They’d only change once we’ve completed our usual yearly review. This is done in line with the Government’s Rent Standard, which states how social housing landlords like us set and increase rents.

We’ll let you know about any changes in early 2025.

Would my how I pay my rent change? 

This depends on how you pay.

If you pay by Direct Debit, nothing would change.

If you pay by Standing Order, you may need to complete a new Standing Order mandate and return this to your bank. We’d let you know the details about this in plenty of time though. It may however be a good opportunity to change to paying by Direct Debit. This is a much easier way to pay your rent and service charge.

Would my tenancy or lease terms and conditions change? 

No. There wouldn’t be any changes to the terms of your tenancy or lease. Your rights would not be affected by the proposed merger.

Would the merger affect my Welfare Benefits or entitlements? 

No. Your Welfare Benefits and entitlements would not be affected by the merger. These would only change in the event of any changes to your personal circumstances.

Were customers able to give feedback on the proposal? 

Yes, we held a six-week consultation period with both Grand Union and Longhurst Group customers.  

All customers received a letter on or around 24 July to advise that consultation had begun and would run up until Wednesday 4 September. It gave all customers an opportunity to tell us what they thought about our plans. 

Would the way I contact you change? 

No, nothing would immediately change. You’d still call us on the same number as before although we will have a new name to reflect the partnership. We’ll keep you informed throughout and give you plenty of notice before any changes are made.  

Would the care and support I receive change? 

No, the merger itself wouldn’t mean any change to the care and support you receive. We need to take time to assess all of the services that both organisations provide before making any decisions about what may or may not change. We’ll keep all customers and service users, and where relevant their friends of family, informed of any developments and ensure we’ve prepared customers for any changes that impact upon the service they receive.  

Longhurst are twice the size of Grand Union – is it really a merger or is it a takeover? 

It really is a merger. In fact, technically Longhurst are transferring into Grand Union. This is to do with pensions though. 

Ultimately, we want to join together and learn from each other’s strengths to help us become a better organisation for our customers. 

Benefits of the merger  

Why are Grand Union and Longhurst Group looking to join together? 

Grand Union and Longhurst Group believe that we’d be better and stronger together. As one organisation, we’d be able to achieve more and do even more for our customers and the communities we serve.

We have a lot of homes in the same regions, as well as neighbouring ones. This would provide a strong platform for the future. And with a combined 37,000 homes we’d see the advantages and benefits of being both local and large – driving efficiencies while retaining our focus on delivering great local services.

More benefits of becoming one organisation: 

• We’d be more financially secure and able to do more in the future 

• We’d have more money to invest in improving existing homes and building new ones 

• We’d be able learn from each other and work more efficiently 

• We’d be able to deliver better services and improve customer experience 
   

Why now? 

The current operating environment for housing associations is very challenging. There are increased demands on the social housing sector, inflation, interest rates, the cost-of-living crisis and a shortage of skills.

Right now, both Grand Union and Longhurst Group are robust, well governed and successful organisations, with both built on strong financial foundations.

Coming together now would further improve our resilience, financial strength and capacity for the future. Ultimately, together we could do more.

What are the main benefits of a merger? 

We think there are a lot of benefits. However, the main benefit would be that we’d have more money available by coming together. This would mean we could invest significantly in improving our existing homes and neighbourhoods, improving our services – particularly repairs – and building more new homes. 

Are there any downsides to a merger? 

We don’t think so. We’re both strongly connected to our local communities, focused on customers and strive for service excellence with a shared value to deliver the best for our colleagues. As a single, bigger organisation, this wouldn’t change. In fact, coming together would help us do all of that even better. 

Would the merger change how services are delivered? 

Initially you wouldn’t see many changes. However, in time we hope to deliver best in class local housing services through a purposely redesigned new organisation driven by best practice and customer needs.

In short, we’ll be a better landlord that aims to provide you with a great customer experience.

Where do both associations operate? 

A key benefit of the merger would be how closely our operating areas are. This would provide a strong platform for the future, bringing significant advantages and benefits to these proposals.  

Grand Union provides over 13,000 homes across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire. Longhurst Group owns and manages over 24,000 homes across the Midlands and the East of England. 

Together we’d have over 37,000 homes. 

What would happen to the repairs service? 

Right now, we both work slightly differently. Grand Union has an in-house repairs team while Longhurst Group uses three contractors for this service. These contractors operate in three different regions. They are Ian Williams, who operate in the west, Morgan Sindall, who operate in the east and Fortem Solutions, who operate in the south.   

Both organisations know that there’s work to do to improve the repairs service that our customers receive. The merger would provide us with the opportunity to invest significantly more in this area and find the best way to deliver a high-quality customer centric repairs service. 

Details of the merger 

What’s the process for the merger?  

As previously mentioned, we entered a six-week customer consultation period from Wednesday 24 July until Wednesday 4 September.

This has now been completed, and all customer feedback was considered and used to help create a final business case. This went to both Boards during September to review and both organisations unanimously agreed for the merger to go ahead.

When would it happen?  

We hope to come together as a single organisation by the end of this year or early next year.