Curo Group is a not-for-profit housing and support organisation based in Bath, England. Curo’s operating area is the West of England, with the majority of its homes located in Bath and North East Somerset where it is the largest housing provider.
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Areas of activity
Curo Group (Albion) Limited is the group holding company for:
Curo manages about 12,600 homes mainly in Bath and Bristol, and had a turnover of £68 million and employed 461 full-time equivalent staff in the 2014/15 financial year.
It is a housing association registered with the Homes and Communities Agency. Curo provides homes at low-cost social and affordable rents through local authorities’ choice-based lettings schemes, and for sale through shared ownership. Curo also provides homes at market rents and for sale on the open market, cross-subsidising its charitable activities.
Curo provides support services to older and vulnerable people, including people affected by homelessness and people with disabilities. In 2013 Curo’s Independent Living Service received the National Housing Federation’s national Community Impact Award.
In 2013 Curo purchased the 19 hectare former Ministry of Defence site at Foxhill in Bath for £50m with a view to redeveloping the area with a mix of up to 700 affordable and private homes.
History
Prior to 2012, Curo traded as Somer Housing Group. Somer Housing Group's main housing association member was Somer Community Housing Trust, formed in 1999 with the transfer of Bath & North East Somerset Council's housing stock as part of a large-scale voluntary housing transfer. The Group was joined in 2002 by Shape Housing Association and in 2005 by Redland Housing Association. Shape, formed in 1983 as Bath Self-Help, specialised in supported housing for people in the Bath area. Redland Housing was founded in 1973.
Partnerships
Curo is represented on various local and regional groups including:
Finances
Curo Group recorded a turnover of £63.3m and an operating surplus of £11.9m in the 2013-14 financial year. In 2013 the group secured £75m of funding with M&G Investments, £50m of which was to support its house building programme, with £25m for additional projects.
Regulatory judgements
As of May 2014 Curo was assessed by its regulator the Homes and Communities Agency as having the highest (G1 and V1) ratings for governance and viability.
The Properly Governed assessment was downgraded to G2 in 2016 due to a lack of assurance around the maintenance of clear roles and responsibilities for the board. In August 2016 a new chair was appointed.