Estuary and CHP Merger FAQs

Both Estuary and CHP recognised the growing challenges across the housing sector and the importance of continuing to invest in customer service, the quality of our existing homes, and meeting housing need across Essex with more new affordable homes.

Through detailed discussions, it became clear that the proposed merger between Estuary and CHP represented an exciting opportunity to bring together two locally focused, forward-thinking, and well-respected organisations to achieve positive outcomes for the customers we serve.

As Delta, we believe we can create something new built on the best of both organisations. One that's stronger and more resilient, shares similar values and goals, and is better equipped to serve the people of Essex now and in the future. 

The current operating environment for housing associations is very challenging. There are increased demands on the social housing sector, and our proximity to London heightens some of the issues. 

Both organisations reviewed their Corporate Strategies and explored the merger as part of how we could deliver our new strategies.

Merging into one organisation has given us the potential to increase our financial capacity to achieve our shared ambitions faster, more effectively, and with greater resilience than either organisation could have done alone. This will benefit both current and future customers. 

Estuary and CHP were strong independently, but we believe we’re even stronger together as Delta. Our initial analysis before the merger showed that coming together could bring increased financial capacity to help us do more than either organisation could do alone.

Our ambitions for the future, values, and culture were very similar. We also shared a similar geographic footprint, with most of our homes in the same areas. We were both strongly connected to our local communities and focused on customers. As a single, bigger organisation, this doesn’t change, and we hope that having come together will help us do things better and faster.  

As Delta, we have a greater capacity to improve services and maintain homes. We’re committed to tackling the housing crisis, and we can better address housing needs. We’ll be able to build more new homes, increase investment in our existing homes, and provide better service to our customers.

From the work we did exploring the merger, we didn’t find any disadvantages to our proposal in the long term.

It will take some time and resources to fully bring Estuary and CHP’s people, services, and systems together. Therefore, we recognise that in the short term, there might be a small risk of disruption to the level of service you receive from us as we do this. In the longer term, we believe the merger will help us improve services and result in an even better customer experience.

We looked at the benefits and downsides of merging in more detail through a process called ‘due diligence’. The results of this due diligence, along with what you told us in the consultation, helped us make our final decision about merging. 

We're committed to providing ways for you to get involved and help us improve our services. We're keen to hear what you think, what’s important to you, and how we can improve our services. This remains the same now that we’re one organisation. Our commitment to hearing our customers’ voices and giving you opportunities to influence how we design and deliver our services remains a priority. We'll work with our current customer groups to make sure that your voice will continue to be heard on issues relating to local, regional, and nationwide matters.

No, it doesn’t, but being bigger gives us opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available. We have greater financial capacity to invest in homes and services, as well as access to a larger, more experienced workforce from both Estuary and CHP.

One of the reasons we believed merging was a good idea was that Estuary and CHP were very similar in lots of ways. We had a shared culture in that both organisations prioritised customers, communities, and colleagues, and this won’t change. We operated in similar geographical areas, and while merging means we now have more customers and homes to serve, we also have the combined experience and expertise of employees from Estuary and CHP.  

Your feedback helped us to make the appropriate recommendation to the Board as it enabled us to understand how you felt about our proposals and why you might have concerns. More importantly, your feedback, like all the other customer engagement we do, also helped us look at our future priorities and actions. Our Boards had the responsibility to take your feedback – as well as lots of other factors – into consideration when deciding whether to go ahead with the merger.

Throughout this process, we looked at and learned from other housing associations that had gone through similar mergers, and they found that they made savings in the longer term. As expected, we looked at finances during our work exploring the merger. Now that we've merged, we have more capacity and money to invest in services, the quality of our existing homes, and in building new affordable homes to meet housing needs across Essex. We need to invest in order to improve our services.

No. The merger wasn’t planned as a cost-saving exercise. As we’ve said in other answers, we have more capacity and money to invest, and we need to invest in order to improve our services. Through merging, we have more customers and homes to serve, so the combined number of employees from Estuary and CHP is advantageous. 

Estuary had 4,500 homes. These were mainly general needs, with some leasehold, market rent, and supported housing. They were focused on South Essex, with operations stretching into East London and Suffolk. Their head office was in Southend.

CHP had more than 12,500 properties. These were mainly general needs, with some leasehold, shared ownership, and market rent housing. They were focused on Essex, with operations stretching into Suffolk and East Hertfordshire. CHP’s head office was in Chelmsford.  

Since 2024, we reported our performance based on the Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). They assess how well landlords are doing in providing good quality homes and services. You can find Estuary’s latest TSM results at: www.estuary.co.uk/tenant-satisfaction-measures and CHP’s latest TSM results at: www.chp.org.uk/tenant-satisfaction-measures

If you don’t have access to the internet but would like to know more about our TSMs, please contact us on 0300 304 5000 (for Estuary’s TSMs), or 0300 555 0500 (for CHP’s TSMs).

There are several reasons why Estuary and CHP were a strong match for a merger:

• Our corporate plans and ambitions for the future were remarkably similar — we both wanted to improve services, invest in homes, and grow responsibly.
• We operated in similar geographical areas.
• We complemented each other financially, bringing an increased financial resilience.
• We had a shared culture: both organisations prioritised customers, communities, and colleagues. 

Nothing has changed immediately. It's business as usual for both former Estuary and CHP customers. Our priority remains the same: to continue improving the services we provide to our customers.  

On 1 April 2026, Delta Housing became your landlord, and we’re working on implementing all the positive changes outlined in the previous answers.  
 
Our customers will always be our priority and will be at the centre of every decision we make. We’ll continue to keep you informed and give you plenty of notice if there are any changes in the future.  

As with any service provider, there would have been some people who were really happy with the service they received, and some people who weren’t. It wouldn’t be right for us to comment on each other’s previous performance specifically, but they were generally comparable. Individually, we both used customer feedback to help improve services, and we’ll continue to do this together as Delta. As we’ve said in previous answers, from the work we carried out looking into the merger, we were confident that by coming together, services would stay the same or get better.    

No. Your rent and/or service charges won’t increase as a direct result of the merger. Your rent and service charges will continue to be reviewed each year in the same way they were before the merger. Where you’re a tenant, the current protections over how much your rent can increase year on year (as set out by the Regulator of Social Housing) will continue. 

Yes, the merger hasn’t affected your relationship with us as a customer. Your right to live in your home stays the same. 

The terms of your lease, your statutory rights, and the services you receive stay the same.

The terms of your shared ownership agreement, rights, and the services you receive stay the same.

No. Your welfare benefits remain the same unless your own personal circumstances change.

You'll receive the same services as before; there are no current proposals for these to change as part of the merger. In the short term, there might be some disruption to the level of service you receive (please see question on potential disadvantages above). 

We’re sorry you didn’t think you got a good service. We want you to enjoy living in your home and aim to get things right the first time, but we recognise that this isn’t always the case. From the work we carried out looking at the merger, we were confident that by coming together, we’d have more capacity to invest, so our services should stay the same or get better. Please continue to raise issues with us and tell us when we get things wrong. We listen to what customers tell us and learn from our mistakes to improve things, and this hasn’t changed now we’ve merged.

 

We’re pleased that you were happy with the services you received. As we’ve said in a previous answer, it will take some time to bring the people, services, and systems of both organisations together. In the short term, this means there’s a small risk of disruption to the level of service you receive. In the longer term, we believe as a merged organisation we have more capacity to invest and help us improve services and result in a good customer experience.

Yes. You can still call us on the same number, email us, visit us in person, or contact us via our social media channels. We’ll give you plenty of notice before we make any changes.

Yes. Your housing officers are the same. The repairs and maintenance operatives are also the same. To begin with, you’ll still see some of our team in Estuary or CHP uniforms, and some will still drive Estuary or CHP-branded vans, but this will change over time. If we visit your home, we’ll always show you an identification card when we arrive to confirm that we're there on behalf of Delta. If you're ever unsure, please call us at 0300 304 5000 if you live in a former Estuary home, or 0300 555 0500 if you live in a former CHP home.