In March we shared the possibility of Silva joining us as a subsidiary. We asked customers for their thoughts on the proposals and what matters most in terms of the services they get us.
A reminder about why Abri and Silva are thinking of joining together
Silva Homes, like Abri, is a charitable, registered provider of social housing. Both organisations feel that they share the same objectives and culture. Both Abri and Silva believe that joining together will enable the combined organisation to invest more in existing homes and neighbourhoods, develop more new homes in the area and make improvements to the services customer's receive.
Should the proposals go ahead, we’ll implement a new regional approach with a locally based managing director, regional board and customer panel. The managing director will lead on service delivery and the regional board will be accountable to customers in the region on all the issues that are important to them.
Abri and Silva propose that the first new region to be established is our south east region and will represent the area around Windsor and Bracknell. Joining forces will create efficiency savings which we will invest in service improvements in the areas our customer's live.
Our customers told us what matters most to them
More than 130 customers told us what they thought about our proposals for Silva to join the Abri Group. Some shared our optimism about making improvements to services. For others, the main worry was that a larger company would feel less personal.
We’re confident it wouldn’t be like that as the proposal would mean investing in neighbourhoods as well as making improvements to the services customers receive, based on what matters most to them.
As well as telling us what they thought about Silva joining Abri, we asked customers what they'd like to prioritise in the following areas:
- Improving the energy efficiency of homes
- Improving repairs and maintenance services
- Improving the safety of homes
- Reducing inequality and poverty in communities
- Creating better neighbourhoods and communities
The top priorities customers told us about were speed of repairs, reducing anti-social behaviour and cleanliness and maintenance of our schemes. They also shared our ambition to make our homes more energy efficient.
What’s happening next?
There’s lots happening behind the scenes right now, and a joint board made up of Abri and Silva representatives will meet later this summer. The business case for Silva to join Abri is being worked on, which will include customer feedback on our proposal.
The decision on whether the proposal will be approved or not will be made in late-September or early-October. If Silva do join Abri, nothing will change immediately, and we’ll keep you updated on the next stages.