Tenants in Worcester will remain centrally important to Fortis Living despite the organisation merging with another social housing landlord, bosses say.

Fortis Living owns and manages 16,000 properties across Worcestershire and Herefordshire, with 6,000 in Worcester city. In October it will merge with Solihull-based Waterloo Housing and the resultant company will manage 45,000 properties across the whole of the midlands.

But Fortis chief executive Guy Weston assured Worcester City Council's Communities committee that there was no danger of Worcester becoming peripheral.

He said: “We are staying local. Even after the merger the largest concentration of housing stock in the whole group will be in Worcester.”

Mr Weston added that the association was investing millions of pounds in its new headquarters in Worcester, off Midlands Road, next to its existing offices.

Clare Jackson, director of housing care and communities for Fortis, said the association had increased its stock in the city: “Last year we built 32 new homes in Worcester and 19 on the edge of the city in Wychavon District. This year we’ll build another 47 in the city and you’ll have nomination rights for another 34.”

Mr Weston added: “The merger will allow us to build another 2,000 homes, which is 500 more than we could do separately.”

Mrs Jackson added that the housing association had plans to upgrade sheltered housing in the city and wanted to make significant improvements to Tolladine estate.

It was agreed that bosses form the association, even after the merger, would attend the committee’s meeting annually to give a report on social housing in the city.