FAQs

The rebrand

Why have you chosen the name Amplius and what does it mean?

Amplius means ‘to do more’ or ‘go further’ in Latin and that’s exactly what we’re determined to do, together.

We want to build more homes and provide improved services, to do the right thing and help those who need us the most, to be accountable and deliver on our promises.

To do this we promise to treat people with respect. To listen and be understanding. To have more of a positive impact on our customers’ lives.

We believe that our name Amplius, with its Latin meaning, represents all of these ambitions of our new organisation.

When choosing our name, we also wanted it to be different to anything either organisation has had before. Amplius fits all of the criteria we were looking for.

How did you come up with the name Amplius?

We worked with a specialist branding agency to create our new name and brand.

They carried out lots of research with customers, colleagues and stakeholders and took all of their feedback on board when coming up with options.

From several hundred possibilities, Amplius was chosen.

How much did the brand cost? Wasn’t it a waste of money?

There was a cost involved in rebranding. We did, however, ensure that we secured value for money when choosing the branding agency to work with and have also completed a huge amount of work in-house to help keep costs down.

It’s clear that we will see considerable benefits as a merged organisation and we strongly believe this outweighs the initial cost as it’ll mean better outcomes for customers, colleagues, wider stakeholders and business.

By year five as a single organisation, we’ll be saving more than £7 million which can be invested in existing homes and neighbourhoods, improved services and building more homes.

Ultimately, the saving we’re forecasting will help us continue to grow and invest in our homes and services and this will more than make up for the initial spend on our new identity.

Are you changing your social media channels?

Yes, we’ll be changing our social media channels so that they’re branded as Amplius.

On most platforms, we’ll be merging the existing pages of Longhurst Group and Grand Union Housing Group. However, if we create a new profile on any platform, we’ll make sure you know so you can follow us.

How does becoming a single organisation affect me?

Who would be my landlord? 

Grand Union is still your landlord. However, we have a new name, Amplius, to reflect the new partnership. 

Will my rent and service charges go up? 

No. Your rent and other charges will 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.

Will 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.

Will 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 won’t not be affected by the merger.

Will the merger affect my Welfare Benefits or entitlements? 

No. Your Welfare Benefits and entitlements will 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. 

Will the way I contact you change? 

No, nothing will 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.  

Will the care and support I receive change? 

No, the merger itself won’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 were twice the size of Grand Union – was it really a merger or was it a takeover? 

It really was a merger. In fact, technically Longhurst transferred into Grand Union. This was to do with pensions though. 

Ultimately, we wanted 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 were Grand Union and Longhurst Group looking to join together? 

Grand Union and Longhurst Group decided 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.

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

What are the main benefits of the 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 means we can invest significantly in improving our existing homes and neighbourhoods, improving our services – particularly repairs – and building more new homes. 

Are there any downsides to the 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 will help us do all of that even better. 

Will the merger change how services are delivered? 

Initially you won’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.

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 knew that there’s work to do to improve the repairs service that our customers receive. The merger will 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 was the process for the merger?  

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

Once this was completed 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.

Officially we became Amplius on 17 December 2024.