Paradigm and Settle housing groups have announced they are in talks to create a new 30,000-home housing association.

The new organisation will serve the counties of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire – where many of the properties belonging to the groups are currently based.

In a separate deal, Paradigm has also announced plans to buy almost 3,500 homes in South Buckinghamshire from L&Q.

The Boards of Paradigm and Settle approved the initial business case last week to formally explore the partnership. If proposals go ahead, the new organisation, initially known as SettleParadigm, would be the largest housing association working in the region.

The target date for entering into a partnership is October 2025. The merger will be subject to further approval by both boards and the relevant shareholders.

In a joint statement, Matthew Bailes, Chief Executive at Paradigm and Rod Cahill, interim Chief Executive at Settle, (both pictured), said: “We are delighted to announce these proposals.

“Paradigm and Settle share the same geography and focus on core social housing. Both organisations want to deliver excellent services, high-quality homes and more new affordable homes to help tackle the housing crisis.

“We believe that by joining together, we can work more efficiently and cost-effectively, achieving more for our residents and the communities where we work. With the proposed addition of the homes from L&Q, we will be able to deliver the advantages of scale while remaining locally focused.”

Vicky Savage, Executive Director for Development & Sales at L&Q, said: “We have started to discuss the details of a possible transfer to Paradigm and residents will be formally consulted before a final decision is made. We believe that Paradigm, a locally based organisation, may be better placed to provide an excellent service in the area.

 “As an organisation, we consider homes for transfer where they sit outside our core areas of Greater London and Greater Manchester. This supports our strategic decision to focus our activity on areas where we have the greatest concentration of homes, enabling us to provide responsive, joined up services which offer best value for residents.”

Both organisations involved in the partnership will now begin a period of due diligence and resident consultation, with the expectation that decisions about whether to proceed with the partnership are made later this summer.