WM Housing Group to invest £870m as it rebrands as 'Citizen'

WM Housing Group plans to plough nearly £1bn into building new homes and a series of maintenance programmes once it has amalgamated all its operations under a new name, Citizen.

The West Midlands-based housing association expects the merger of its businesses – Family Housing Association, Optima Community Association, West Mercia Homes, Whitefriars Housing and WM Housing – to be completed by this autumn, when the five providers will cease to exist as legal entities.

The reorganisation will trigger an £870m investment programme, with funds going towards building 2,800 affordable and 500 private sale homes, to be built between now and 2024, plus £200m in planned maintenance and investment in its existing housing stock. A further £170m will go towards regeneration and “safety in the home” programmes.

The 30,000-homes group said it conducted what it called “a lengthy consultation” with its residents, staff and other stakeholders over the corporate rejig.

A spokesperson for WM Housing Group said the rebrand and amalgamation followed the discussions, which found its stakeholders and residents didn’t have the relationship with the brand the firm thought.

“Currently we have several brands existing under a group brand, WM Housing. This has been confusing for people we work with and the re-brand is an opportunity to move forward in a positive direction,” she added.

The almalgamation would seek to create “a single, focused organisation with a clear purpose and a consistent way of working [which] will drive change”.

Several of what the group called “transformative projects” would get under way following the rebranding, including what it labelled “a major customer service training programme”.

Kevin Rodgers, WM Housing Group’s chief executive, said the move to become Citizen would mean being able to bring staff together “behind a single identity, enhance customer experience, deliver homes and services that provide a foundation for life for our residents and help us to grow so we can help more people in our communities”.

“The Citizen brand is about much more than a change of name for us. It is about improving our organisation and demonstrating our absolute commitment to our social purpose,” he added.