Sovereign Living and Newbury Building Society Help their 100th Aspiring Homeowner
Posted 05.12.12
Sovereign Living and Newbury Building Society have helped their 100th aspiring homeowner to buy their first home. Sovereign Living is a trading name of Sovereign Housing Association Limited.
The two organisations launched their mortgage product in May 2011 to address some of the financial challenges currently faced by potential home owners.
Based on their shared commitment to social responsibility and strong community values, Sovereign Living and the Newbury, a mutual building society, offer affordable mortgage products throughout the south and south west to enable the purchase of Sovereign Living homes. Newbury provide mortgage coverage of up to 75% of any one Sovereign scheme.
Among the options available are shared ownership, equity share products, and the resale and 'staircasing' - the gradual purchasing of more shares - of existing shared ownership properties.
Applicants are assessed to ensure options are affordable, and products will be delivered through the use of an approved Independent Financial Advisor panel.
Cosmopolitan HG and Riverside Merger In Doubt
Posted 07.12.12
The HCA's Regulatory Judgement has downgraded Cosmopolitan Housing Group's governance and viability status, which in turn has raised questions about the Group's proposed merger with Riverside.
The HCA said that its downgrading of Cosmopolitan's status reflected "serious problems with its governance, risk management and financial position. These in turn reflect major shortcomings, including a failure to recognise and manage operational risks, an overly ambitious approach to development and the emergence of failures in internal control dating back some years".
The two housing providers issued a joint statement, saying negotiations are making progress and that they are in a "detailed phase of due diligence, considering the implications of the complex commercial leases in Cosmopolitan Student Homes".
The associations joint statement also said:
"Riverside wants to reach a position where it can merge with Cosmopolitan for the sake of all tenants involved. However, it will not put at risk its core business.
"We're working very hard to achieve that position and believe that a union between the two organisations is the best possible outcome, but only provided appropriate commercial terms can be agreed.
"Due to the complexity of the situation we have not set a firm target date for the merger. While a merger before Christmas is not impossible, our horizon is now moving into the early New Year."
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Sovereign HA Acquires More Homes in Wiltshire
Posted 10.12.12
Almost 500 homes across Wiltshire have been transferred to Sovereign Housing Association, in a move that will give residents a more local and responsive service.
The 480 properties that have been transferred were formerly owned by Western Challenge Housing Association, part of the Spectrum Housing Group. They include 215 homes for social rent, 171 for older residents and 91 leasehold properties.
Sovereign already has a significant presence in Wiltshire - it has a local office and over 2,600 homes across the county, with plans to develop more.
In June, Sovereign published a report outlining best practice in carrying out stock rationalisation projects. This was in response to the growing need in the housing sector to meet the challenge of improving customer service and operational efficiency in the context of government cutbacks and changes to housing policy.
In 2012, Sovereign has acquired 1,580 homes though stock transfer agreements, taken on the management of another 285 and transferred out 677 homes.
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Spectrum Takes On Extra Homes in Dorset
More than 700 homes across Dorset have been transferred to Spectrum Housing Group in a move that will give residents a more local and responsive service. The houses are in areas including Bournemouth, Poole and parts of North and West Dorset. The homes have been transferred from Knightstone Housing Association.
The deal is part of a transfer of homes between the two housing companies, with Spectrum transferring a similar number of properties to Knightstone in the Bath, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Somerset areas.
Spectrum already has a significant presence in Dorset - it has local offices (including head office in Christchurch) and also owns over 8,000 homes across the county, with plans to develop more.
