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Make Your Voice Heard
We’re exploring a merger with Chelmer Housing Partnership (CHP) to create a new, single organisation that would allow us to build more homes, invest more in our properties, and improve services for all customers. Your feedback is essential.
Our consultation is open until Friday 24th October 2025.
Proposals for Estuary Housing Association and CHP to Merge to Form a New Housing Association
We announced in March 2025 that we’re exploring plans to merge with Chelmsford based Chelmer Housing Partnership (CHP). The proposal is that we, Estuary Housing Association, will undertake a transfer of engagements to CHP and both organisations would combine to form a single organisation with a new name. Like us, CHP is a Registered Provider of Social Housing (RP), registered with the Regulator of Social Housing and has charitable status.
CHP would change its name to reflect the new partnership, and the merged organisation would become your new landlord.
While we’re strong independently, we believe that together we could create something new, built on the best of both organisations. We’re both committed to tackling the housing crisis locally, and joining together will also help us better address housing needs. We’d be able to build more new homes, increase investment in our existing homes, and provide better services to our customers.
We currently own and manage 4,500 homes, with the largest number in Southend-on-Sea. CHP have more than 12,500 homes, with the largest number in and around Chelmsford. This means that a merged organisation would own and manage more than 17,000 homes and would be the largest housing association focused on, and headquartered in, Essex.
We Want to Hear From You
We really want to hear your views, so we’ve emailed our customers a short survey that can be completed online. We’ve also sent a copy in the post to customers who we know can’t access the internet. If you’d prefer a paper version to complete, please contact us on 0300 304 5000.
Before you complete your survey, we ask you to read the information on this page, including our FAQs, so you know what our plans are. You may want to join us at one of our in-person or online events, where you’ll hear directly from us on the plans and be able to ask us questions.
You can watch our short video where Ian Martin, Estuary’s Chief Executive, explains a bit more about our proposals and why your views are so important to us.
Make Your Voice Heard
Make Your Voice Heard - Video Transcript
| Start: |
A teal background appears and a tablet displaying the Estuary logo flips across the screen from left to right. Text appears on the left hand side of the screen: Estuary and CHP, Make Your Voice Heard. September 2025. The text disappears and the tablet flips back to the left, off the screen. The screen changes to Ian Martin on a white background. Ian starts speaking. |
| 00:00:06:13 - 00:00:08:16 | Hello, I’m Ian Martin |
| 00:00:08:16 - 00:00:32:26 | and I'm Estuary’s Chief Executive. Earlier this year, we announced plans for a proposed merger between Estuary and CHP. We think this is a brilliant opportunity to bring two strong organisations together, making us a powerful influence to provide homes and services and help tackle the housing crisis locally. Over the past few months, we've been looking more at what a merged organisation would look like. |
| 00:00:32:29 - 00:00:56:23 | Together, we'd be able to invest money to build more new, affordable homes that we know are so desperately needed. We'd also be able to invest in our existing homes to keep them safe and well-maintained and improving the service you receive from us. So what does this mean for you? Well, as an existing customer, I want to reassure you that very little will change. Your right to live in your home would stay the same. |
| 00:00:56:25 - 00:01:16:07 | If you rent your home, the terms of your tenancy would stay the same. This includes rent and service charges, which would stay the same, except for the annual increase that takes place each year and is made in line with the guidance set by the government. If you're a shared owner or leaseholder, the terms of your lease and the services you receive would also stay the same. |
| 00:01:16:09 - 00:01:39:01 | In short, we want to ensure you'll be able to continue enjoying your home as you currently do. Every Estuary and CHP customer has received a copy of our consultation, either by email or in the post. Our seven-week consultation opens on Monday, the 8th of September, and closes on Friday, the 24th of October. We really hope to hear from as many of you as possible during that time. |
| 00:01:39:03 - 00:02:01:15 | During those seven weeks, we'll be holding a series of events where you can come and find out more about our plans and ask questions should you wish to do so. The dates for these are on our website or in the letter that we sent you. We'll review all the feedback we received during the consultation and both Estuary and CHP’s boards will use the results of what you told us to help us make the final decision about merging. |
| 00:02:01:17 - 00:02:08:08 | We expect this decision in mid-December and we'll let you know the outcome as soon as we can after that. |
| 00:02:08:09 - end |
A teal background reappears and a tablet displaying the Estuary logo flips across the screen from left to right. Text appears on the left hand side of the screen: Estuary and CHP, Make Your Voice Heard. September 2025. The text disappears and the tablet flips back to the left, off the screen. |
Join an Event to Find Out More
In Person Events
Come along to one of our local events to speak with us directly and ask any questions. If you'd like us to visit you while we're in your area, just let us know.
Location |
Date |
Time |
Gazebo Location |
| Rochford | Tuesday 9th September | 12.30pm-2pm | St Marks Field, right hand side of car park |
| Colchester | Thursday 11th September | 10.30am-12.30pm | Heatley Way, green area close to number 18 |
| Basildon | Tuesday 16th September | 12.30pm-2pm | Wilson Court, Wickford, close to the dryer area |
| Castlepoint | Wednesday 17th September | 9.30am-11am | Furtherwick Close, middle of car park |
| Brentwood | Tuesday 23rd September | 12pm-1.30pm | Osborne Heights, car park close to number 70 |
| Barking and Dagenham | Wednesday 24th September | 11am-1pm | Kings House, office 105 |
| Havering | Thursday 25th September | 10.30am-12.30pm | In front of Weave Court |
| Epping Forest | Tuesday 30th September | 10.30am-12pm | Wallis Court, central car park |
| Woodgrange Drive Estate | Wednesday 1st October | 10.30am-12.30pm | Central Green |
| Maldon | Wednesday 8th October | 10.30am-12.30pm | Glendale Road, roadside close to 100-121 Glendale |
| Chelmsford | Thursday 9th October | 10.30am-12pm | Wharton Drive area between 44-54 |
| Suffolk Coastal | Monday 13th October | 11am-12.30pm | Fountain Road, green area on the corner of Spring Close/ Fountain Road |
| Thurrock | Wednesday 15th October | 10am-12.30pm | Bexhill Drive, car park near 108 |
| Tendring | Tuesday 21st October | 10.30am-12pm | Chantry Close, green next to basketball court |
| Uttlesford | Thursday 22nd October | 10.30am-12pm | Willow Road, central car park |
Online Events
Join one of our online events if you prefer to take part from home. We have two online Microsoft Teams sessions you can join to come and talk with us.
- Wednesday 1st October 6.30pm - 7.30pm
- Thursday 23rd October 12.30pm - 1.30pm
To attend an online session, sign into Your Online Account and visit our consultation meetings page. You'll need to be signed into Your Online Account to access the survey and online meeting links. If you haven’t signed up yet, visit the Your Online Account registration page
If you're unable to sign in, please email us at involvement@estuary.co.uk or call us on 0300 304 5000. We’ll then send you the links and instructions on how to join.
More Information
We want all our customers to have the opportunity to give their views, should they wish to do so. The customer consultation will last seven weeks, opening on Monday 8th September 2025 and closing on Friday 24th October. We need to have received all comments by the end of the consultation for them to be considered.
We’ve worked with CHP to create this consultation, and they are consulting with their customers at the same time.
Next Steps
We’ll look at all the feedback we receive during the consultation, and Estuary’s Board will use the results of what you told us to help them make the final decision as to whether to merge or not. We'll update you as soon as possible once a decision has been made.
If you have any questions or need support in completing this survey, please contact us on 0300 304 5000 or email involvement@estuary.co.uk