‘Reserves are not excess funds’ - Livv hits back at unions as quarter of staff strike over pay

A Merseyside housing association has drafted in subcontractors to cover workloads as hundreds of staff have gone on strike in the latest episode in an ongoing pay dispute.

Staff at 13,000-home Livv, which is based in Knowsley, are striking throughout February after unions rejected a 5% pay increase for 2024/25.

An estimated 28% of its 500-strong payrolled workforce are involved in the action, which looks set to last until at least 28 February when the unions’ mandate for action expires. The latest strikes follow industrial action by repair, maintenance and call centre staff in October, November and January.

Unite and UNISON say the 5% offered “fails to reverse the real-terms pay cuts they have endured previously”. The unions have also pointed to £110m that Livv holds as reserves as evidence the provider can “afford to pay more” - not mentioning the housing association is not-for-profit and reinvests its surpluses.

A Livv spokesperson said the 5% award would be one of the highest across the housing sector. The landlord said it has also offered a cumulative 21.5% pay increase to all staff over the past five years and made a £1,400 cost of living payment to each employee.

She added that the landlord has also been a living wage employer for more than a decade.

She said: “As a social housing provider, our financial decisions must strike a fine balance - sustain our charitable purpose, maintain excellent customer service, support communities, and fairly compensate colleagues - which is why we believe our 5% award for 2024/25 is a fair deal, especially when compared to the wider employment market.”

The Livv spokesperson said: “We cannot stress enough that as a not-for-profit housing association surplus – or reserves - are not excess funds; they are essential for maintaining financial stability and supporting future growth and are continuously reinvested to improve services and support our communities.”

Livv, in common with other housing associations, sets aside money from accumulated surpluses – the excess of income over expenditure in a given year – for specific purposes such as major repairs, loan repayments or risk management. As a non-profit organisation Livv does not pay money out to shareholders in dividends.

We cannot stress enough that as a not-for-profit housing association surplus – or reserves - are not excess funds; they are essential for maintaining financial stability and supporting future growth and are continuously reinvested to improve services and support our communities.

Livv spokesperson

The spokesperson added that Livv has engaged ACAS to discuss a wider set of requests from the unions, some of which relate to pay in 2025/26, in addition to the prolonged one-year pay dispute for 2024/25.

She said: “We have requested a pause to the strike action while this conciliation takes place, which would avoid further financial impact to colleagues and minimise the impact on our services to customers. As yet, the unions have not responded to this request.”

>>See also: Livv Housing Group appoints new director of customer services from Halton Housing Trust

In a joint statement, Unite and UNISON said “significant” disruption will be caused to Livv Housing’s “entire operations”, including to tenant services. They said additional strike dates will be announced if the dispute remains unresolved.

John Sheppard, regional officer at Unite, said: “The actions of Livv Housing’s leadership are directly responsible for the disruption caused to tenants.

“They could end the strikes tomorrow by putting forward a fair deal, something Livv Housing has more than enough money to do.”

James Robinson, Knowsley branch secretary at UNISON, said the union was willing to postpone its action on condition that Livv agreed to extend the strike mandate past its expiry date of 28 February, so that it could strike further after that date if necessary. He said this would have allowed the union to focus on resolving the dispute rather than expending resources on a reballot, but this was request was declined.

UNISON also said Livv had cancelled a meeting with unions and postponed an ACAS meeting next week, offering only the 28 February as an alternative.