Karbon Homes in talks to take over Leazes Homes

Karbon Homes could take over Leazes Homes after Newcastle City Council announced it would close the arms-length management organisation which oversees the latter.

Leazes Homes is currently part of Your Homes Newcastle (YHN), which the council announced it would close last December, and is proposing that it will join the Karbon Homes group as a subsidiary.

The transfer of management of all of Leazes Homes’ properties over to Karbon is expected to take place in July this year, subject to consultation with its tenants.

Newcastle City Council decided to take the management of its housing stock, formerly managed by YHN, back in house and to deliver services directly. As a result, YHN can no longer help to manage Leazes Homes’ properties.

Leazes Homes has said that joining Karbon Homes will help it to deliver good quality services to tenants as an independent registered provider.

In November 2023, Leazes Homes went out to the market to invite interested parties to secure a future partner to help it provide services to tenants.

>> See also: North East Housing Partnership: using strategic sites and aligning funding to build more affordable homes

>> See also: Newcastle City Council to close ALMO

Karbon Homes was selected as Leazes Homes preferred partner, “after a thorough selection process”.

Karbon Homes owns 30,000 homes across the North-east and Yorkshire, including over 3,600 homes in Newcastle.

Leazes Homes noted that Karbon has been “operating in the area since the mid-1970s, with excellent local knowledge”.

Leazes Homes has just over 750 homes, made up of general housing, supported housing, older people accommodation and shared ownership homes, all in the Newcastle upon Tyne area.

It was established in 2009 by Newcastle City Council, initially as part of YHN and then became an independent charity. In 2012, Leazes returned to YHN.

Paul Fiddaman, chief executive of Karbon Homes Group said: “We’re pleased to have been selected by the board of Leazes Homes as its preferred partner. We’re now undertaking all relevant due diligence checks, which will then be followed by a consultation with Leazes Homes’ tenants.

“The aims and values of Leazes Homes very much align with our own – in terms of providing good-quality, affordable homes and local services in a shared geography as well as our focus on supported and specialist housing.”

Dawn Keightley, chair of Leazes Homes Board said: “Our commitment to providing the best possible services to our tenants and communities remains our top priority, and we believe that Karbon is well-positioned to help us continue to do this. Karbon Homes is a well-known and trusted organisation with an excellent reputation within the area.”

Rachel Taylor, Group Managing Director at Your Homes Newcastle, said: “We are pleased that the Leazes Homes Board has chosen Karbon as their preferred partner to take over the delivery of services to their tenants when their contract with us ends later this year.”

In November, 17 north-east housing providers formed the North East Housing Partnership, which will see them join forces and work alongside the North East Combined Authority to deliver more social homes in the region.

In an interview with Housing Today, Paul Fiddaman, chief executive of Karbon Homes and chair of the NEHP, said that the network of housing providers its aiming to ramp up its delivery of new affordable homes by developing bigger, strategic sites and aligning their funding streams.

As it stands, members of the NEHP have collectively delivered 1,739 new affordable homes each year for the past four years.