One organisation

After successful consultation with Arcon customers, followed by securing board approval this month, Bolton at Home and Arcon Housing Association are set to merge and become a single housing association from April 2024.

In August, we wrote to each Arcon customer and invited them to have their say as Arcon would become part of Bolton at Home and no longer exist as a separate organisation.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in this consultation. We’re pleased to share that it didn’t raise any concerns or questions to prevent the boards of both organisations from giving their full approval for the merger.

The merger aims to achieve cost savings by creating a more streamlined organisation and avoiding some duplication of work. It should enable us to save money and reinvest this into homes and services for our customers.

Arcon, which currently owns and manages around 1,300 homes in north-west England, became a subsidiary of the Bolton at Home Group in April 2019.

With a merger from April 2024, Arcon tenants would have Bolton at Home as their new landlord, with their tenancies, leases, and rights remaining unchanged. Rents and service charges would continue to be set in line with government guidelines and our teams would continue to deliver services as they do now

The organisation would also continue to be led by Noel Sharpe, our Group Chief Executive Officer.

Noel said: “Bolton at Home and Arcon have worked closely over the last four years and by bringing both organisations together as one, we feel we could do even more to meet our customers’ needs.

“There are significant economic and cost of living challenges facing our communities and businesses, and we need to make sure we can keep doing our best for the people we serve. Bringing Bolton at Home and Arcon together would provide us with a stronger base for the future.”

With no customer objections to prevent our boards from fully supporting the merger, we’re now at the final step of the approval process – gaining approval from our bank lenders. We’re working on this and anticipate their approval shortly.

We’ll keep you updated.