Plan by London’s Notting Hill Housing and Genesis to create mega landlord fuels fears that more social housing will be sold off

Tenants in west London have warned that a plan to create one of the UK’s biggest housing associations will lead to the social cleansing of poorer families from wealthy areas.

The proposed merger between London-based housing associations Notting Hill Housing (NHH) and Genesis, would create a mega landlord with a combined annual turnover of £676m and 65,000 homes in management, many in sight of Grenfell Tower, which was destroyed by fire in June. But the associations have between them sold off 800 street properties in the last five years and used the proceeds to build more homes in cheaper areas, leading to fears that further sell-offs are planned.

Residents from both organisations, including the Labour MP for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad, an NHH resident, fear the merged group will be less accountable, more commercial and intent on accelerating schemes that price out poorer families from inner London.

The deal is being seen as a symbol of how far housing associations have drifted from their philanthropic origins, and there is growing unease about “forced gentrification”, which has been highlighted by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

In the last two years NHH and Genesis have also converted 1,322 homes let at social rents (typically well below half the market rate) into “affordable” lets (which charge up to 80% of market rates). As part of the drive to build more homes, housing associations must relet homes at these higher rents in order to qualify for housing grants.

Campaigners say housing associations like NHH and Genesis are eager to comply with the requirement as it allows them to increase their portfolios and sell off, or “sweat”, their inner London assets. The associations say they are working to address residents’ concerns.

In NHH’s case, when homes have switched to “affordable” status, the weekly rent on a two-bedroom property has risen by an average of 47% to £213.54 a week.

But there is a growing political backlash. “No social cleansing. No jacking up rents,” Corbyn pledged in his speech to the Labour party conference. And the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has just blocked plans by Genesis to redevelop the Grahame Park estate in Colindale, north-west London, because the scheme would have involved a net loss of 257 homes on social rents.

Dent Coad said: “Social cleansing is happening because people are moved out. The rate of conversion from social rent to affordable rent is proof of that.”

She shares the fears of tenants such as NHH tenant Gemini Verney-Dyde and Genesis tenant Tim Baster, who claim this process will increase after the merger. “The merger will give them further power to carry on in the same vein but on an escalated level,” Verney-Dyde said.

Baster said: “They are cross-funding their commercial operations by selling or converting existing social homes. This is social cleansing as they are selling homes in the richer parts of London.” He and Verney-Dyde claim tenant consultation on the merger has been a sham, with the associations determined to push ahead despite tenant unease. They have collected the names of 1,000 tenants opposed to it.

Dent Coad cited the proposed merger and concerns about the reduction of social housing in her report about the growing inequality in the area around Grenfell Tower.

The MP, who fought a five-year legal battle with NHH over her own shared-ownership home, claims housing associations are ignoring residents’ concerns. “They have been complicit in allowing housing to be seen as a financial asset rather than somewhere where people live. The attitude of disdain is long ingrained. Things have to change after Grenfell and they will, and the merger is a huge test of that.”

Karen Buck, Labour MP in the neighbouring constituency of Westminster North, agrees. “One of the things that Grenfell revealed is the very strong disconnect between so many housing providers and their residents,” she said. Buck met managers at Genesis this month to convey her worries about the merger.

She said: “I have had a concern for a long time that both Genesis and Notting Hill, both of which started as a response to the slum conditions in the 1960s, have lost their mission to meet housing needs among the low-income people in inner London.”

Genesis managers insisted that the combined financial strength of the new group would allow them to slow or halt the sale of social rented homes in inner London.

Separate statements from NHH and Genesis said the merged organisation would be able to deliver more new homes than they can separately. They gave no commitment about the tenure of homes.

Both said they were committed to resident involvement. Genesis said residents opposed to the merger had rejected its offer of talks.



NHH said: “We appreciate that some people are concerned – that’s not unusual when things change – and we are working hard to address and alleviate those concerns.”