New housing association for Milton Keynes following merger

Optivo, which has over 440 homes in Milton Keynes, will be amongst the largest housing associations in the UK.

The organisation will provide over 44,000 homes for 90,000 people in the Midlands, London and South East England, and will have an annual turnover of £306 million.

It will invest £3.5 billion in new homes over the next ten years, with the capacity to build 1,500 every year from 2021. And £1.5 billion will be raised in new finance to support a growth programme that will put the business in a powerful position to tackle the housing crisis.

Paul Hackett, Chief Executive of Optivo, said: “This is the start of an exciting new journey. We’re now ‘one team’ and will be able to build more new homes than we could have done as separate organisations.

Optivo will respond positively to the challenges of the housing crisis while looking to deliver sector-leading services. We look forward to working with our partners to meet housing need and creating safe, sustainable communities for our residents.

Residents will remain at the heart of everything we do - this will set us apart and drive success, and is why other organisations will want to work together with us.”

Nick Apetroaie, Deputy Chief Executive of Optivo, added: “At Optivo we want to meet housing need at all levels, from low income households to aspiring professionals.

But we’re also passionate about increasing people’s life opportunities and showing we care about their futures. We’ll do all we can to help them flourish

by providing access to education and employment support, along with supporting their health and wellbeing.”

It was announced in December 2016 that Sir Peter Dixon will chair Optivo.

Sir Peter Dixon added: “There is nothing more worthwhile than providing homes for people who need them and I am hugely excited to be part of the new organisation. Together, we really can make a difference.”