Scarborough Council backs Yorkshire Coast Homes merger

Councillors have backed the proposed merger of Yorkshire Coast Homes with a Teesside-based company.
Scarborough Council met todayScarborough Council met today
Scarborough Council met today

Yorkshire Coast Homes (YCH) manages approximately 4,500 properties along the North Yorkshire Coast while Coast & Country has a current rental stock of more than 10,500 homes, the majority in Redcar and Cleveland.

The boards of both organisations have formally approved a proposed merger.

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Scarborough Council currently owns a third of the charity and could have blocked any changes.

However, due to a change in the law, the council’s share will cease to exist on May 15, meaning that even if the authority had tried to stop the merger, the two organisations could have just waited until the law changed.

A report, that went before the authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Board, last month, noted: “The council’s ongoing strategic support is important for YCH to ensure that the aims and ambitions of the new entity (for example the development of new homes along with investment in services) are achieved. They have therefore requested that the council gives its backing to the merger and specifically gives its approval for the constitution of the new organisation.”

Iain Sim, chief executive of Coast & Country, said that it would not be a case of people from this area being housed in Redcar and vice versa and that YCH would have offices in Whitby and Scarborough should the merger go ahead.

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He told councillors: “You have your housing list, we have ours and we are happy for it to stay that way.”

Should the merger go ahead then the new joint board would have no council representatives on it, though a councillor nominee could attend meetings.

Among the proposals from YCH going forward would be for the charity to build its own homes for general sale.

Yesterday, Scarborough Council, at its full meeting, give its backing to the merger.