whg and Aspire Housing announce potential merger
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6th February 2026
Corporate news
News release: Friday 6 February 2026
whg and Aspire Housing are in early talks around a potential merger of the two organisations to create a new housing association with over 32,000 homes across their Midlands heartlands.
The merger would see the creation of a new housing association, building on an existing footprint across the West Midlands and Staffordshire. Under the proposals, whg and Aspire aim to bring together the best from both organisations to provide excellent housing services, create more regional growth opportunities and build more affordable homes for people in local communities.
It is expected that Gary Fulford, Group Chief Executive at whg, will be appointed as CEO Designate of the combined organisation and the existing Chair of whg’s Board, Gary Moreton, will become Board Chair Designate. It is anticipated that Sinéad Butters, Group Chief Executive at Aspire, will remain closely involved to support a smooth leadership transition.
Gary Fulford, Group Chief Executive at whg, said:
“After careful consideration and initial agreement from our respective Boards, we are excited to work together, with the aim of combining our shared strengths, resources and expertise to create an even stronger, more resilient organisation.
“Our plans are driven by a shared vision for the future and a strong commitment to doing the right thing for our communities. By combining the strengths of both organisations, we would build on the high-quality customer and support services that have seen us each achieve a C1 rating from the Regulator. Together, we would be better placed to meet customer needs, champion our communities, and secure a sustainable future for our colleagues.”
Sinéad Butters MBE, Group Chief Executive at Aspire Housing, said:
“This potential merger aims to mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Aspire and whg, and our customers and colleagues will remain at the heart of our decision-making throughout – putting people first.
“Our organisations are already aligned in so many ways, not least our shared commitment to good quality homes and services shaped by the voice of our customers. Our aim is that together, we’ll have greater resilience to achieve more for our customers and communities, supporting them to thrive.
“For both of us, these proposals really do feel like a great opportunity with the ideal partner at the right time. We’re excited to see what we achieve together.
“Customer voices will be at the heart of our proposed new organisation and we are keen to hear feedback on these plans. Our customers will receive information on how to get involved and share their views over the coming weeks.”
About Aspire Housing
Aspire Housing owns and manages more than 9,500 homes across Staffordshire and Cheshire. We put people first by delivering safe, decent homes and excellent housing services through our talented Aspire team.
We are also supporting the national housing crisis by delivering new homes. This includes shared ownership homes and other schemes to help people getting onto the property ladder, such as buy-to-rent. For us, it’s about profit to purpose, we reinvest the money we make back into our communities to improve our homes for rent and services to our customers.
We want to hear your views
Customer voices will be at the heart of our new organisation, informing our decision-making and helping us to keep improving. It’s important for us to hear what you think about these proposals and your priorities as a customer, and there will be lots of ways you can feed back. We’ll provide more details of engagement opportunities to customers over the coming weeks.
