Non-compliant South Yorkshire Housing Association and Places for People enter merger talks

Non-compliant South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA) would become a subsidiary of 245,000-home Places for People (PfP) under a merger plan being discussed by the landlords.

The two organisations have today announced they have entered talks about 5,000-home SYHA, which is currently in breach of the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) governance and financial viability standard, joining £830m-turnover PfP.

SYHA in June 2023 was found to have breached lending agreements due to business planning and control failures.

RSH awarded SYHA a ‘G3’ and ‘V3’ rating for governance and viability respectively, meaning it is breaching the standard and needs to take action.

It said financial governance weaknesses led to it miscalculating its compliance with loan covenants over a number of years. RSH said SYHA had ‘limited financial capacity’ in the short to medium term and was working with external advisors to “ensure its long-term viability.”

Larry Gold, chief executive of SYHA, said a deal with PfP would enable the association to continue its “50-year legacy providing high-quality homes and services”.

He said: “This is the right thing to do for our customers, communities, employees and partners, and the partnership will be hugely beneficial for Sheffield City Region.”

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Greg Reed, group chief executive of Places for People said: “South Yorkshire, and specifically Sheffield, is a core region for PfP and, like SYHA, we’ve been here for many years

“Bringing our organisations together – pooling our skills and experience - will make us a greater force for good in the region, enabling us, under one group, to have a more significant impact, and further supporting the development of thriving communities”.