Why did you go ahead with the merger?
Both CHP and Estuary recognised the growing challenges across the housing sector and the importance of continuing to invest in customer service, the quality of our existing homes, and meeting housing need across Essex with more new affordable homes.
Through detailed discussions, it became clear that the proposed merger between CHP and Estuary represented an exciting opportunity to bring together two locally focused, forward-thinking, and well-respected organisations to achieve positive outcomes for the customers we serve.
As Delta, we believe we can create something new built on the best of both organisations. One that's stronger and more resilient, shares similar values and goals, and is better equipped to serve the people of Essex now and in the future.
Why did you think it was the right time to merge?
The current operating environment for housing associations is very challenging. There are increased demands on the social housing sector, and our proximity to London heightens some of the issues.
Both organisations reviewed their Corporate Strategies and explored the merger as part of how we could deliver our new strategies.
Merging into one organisation has given us the potential to increase our financial capacity to achieve our shared ambitions faster, more effectively, and with greater resilience than either organisation could have done alone. This will benefit both current and future customers.
What are the main benefits you’re expecting from the merger?
CHP and Estuary were strong independently, but we believe we’re even stronger together as Delta. Our initial analysis before the merger showed that coming together could bring increased financial capacity to help us do more than either organisation could do alone.
Our ambitions for the future, values, and culture were very similar. We also shared a similar geographic footprint, with most of our homes in the same areas. We were both strongly connected to our local communities and focused on customers. As a single, bigger organisation, this doesn’t change, and we hope that having come together will help us do things better and faster.
As Delta, we have a greater capacity to improve services and maintain homes. We’re committed to tackling the housing crisis, and we can better address housing needs. We’ll be able to build more new homes, increase investment in our existing homes, and provide better service to our customers.
Were there any disadvantages to the merger?
From the work we did exploring the merger, we didn’t find any disadvantages to our proposal in the long term.
It will take some time and resources to fully bring CHP and Estuary’s people, services, and systems together. Therefore, we recognise that in the short term, there might be a small risk of disruption to the level of service you receive from us as we do this. In the longer term, we believe the merger will help us improve services and result in an even better customer experience.
We looked at the benefits and downsides of merging in more detail through a process called ‘due diligence’. The results of this due diligence, along with what you told us in the consultation, helped us make our final decision about merging.
How can customers influence the way the new organisation operates?
We're committed to providing ways for you to get involved and help us improve our services. We're keen to hear what you think, what’s important to you, and how we can improve our services. This remains the same now that we’re one organisation. Our commitment to hearing our customers’ voices and giving you opportunities to influence how we design and deliver our services remains a priority. We'll work with our current customer groups to make sure that your voice will continue to be heard on issues relating to local, regional, and nationwide matters.
A bigger organisation doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better
No, it doesn’t, but being bigger gives us opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available. We have greater financial capacity to invest in homes and services, as well as access to a larger, more experienced workforce from both CHP and Estuary.
What would have happened if the majority of customers said they had concerns about the merger and would have preferred CHP and Estuary to remain as they were?
Your feedback helped us to make the appropriate recommendation to the Board as it enabled us to understand how you felt about our proposals and why you might have concerns. More importantly, your feedback, like all the other customer engagement we do, also helped us look at our future priorities and actions. Our Boards had the responsibility to take your feedback – as well as lots of other factors – into consideration when deciding whether to go ahead with the merger.
Surely, this is costing a lot of money – wouldn’t it have been better spent on improving our homes and services?
Throughout this process, we looked at and learned from other housing associations that had gone through similar mergers, and they found that they made savings in the longer term. As expected, we looked at finances during our work exploring the merger. Now that we've merged, we have more capacity and money to invest in services, the quality of our existing homes, and in building new affordable homes to meet housing needs across Essex. We need to invest in order to improve our services.
Was the merger a way to save money and cut back on services and staff?
No. The merger wasn’t planned as a cost-saving exercise. As we’ve said in other answers, we have more capacity and money to invest, and we need to invest in order to improve our services. Through merging, we have more customers and homes to serve, so the combined number of employees from CHP and Estuary is advantageous.