West of Scotland Housing Association (WSHA) has announced it has officially ended its partnership with The Gentoo Group.

WSHA's deal with the Sunderland based housing association was legally ended following new rules registered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for WSHA on 17 October 2017.

The decision concluded a lengthy demerger process which included approval from the Scottish Housing Regulator and a ballot of over 3,500 WSHA tenants. With 42% of tenants voting in the ballot, 96.7% voted in favour of ending the partnership.

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As a result, WSHA will now have full control over its decision making and can improve how tenant views are used to shape services.

Chief Executive Officer Lynne Donnelly said: "Over the 18 months, the Board of WSHA and the Gentoo Group Board have jointly reviewed the partnership and concluded that it was in the best interests of both organisations and our tenants to end the partnership.

"Initially there were a number of positive benefits of partnering with a larger housing association but since then, there has been significant change to the external operating environment which has impacted on the partnership.

"As an independent housing association WSHA will be able to focus on all our communities and deliver a more localised service to tenants, including building 500 new affordable homes over next five years."

(LM/MH)