ELGAR Housing Association has announced changes to the way it manages its homes in the Malvern area.

It currently owns and manages around 3,500 homes in the town and the surrounding area and has until recently managed the properties through two separate housing management teams.

The Chase team has managed homes in the southern part of Malvern town and areas around Upton-upon-Severn while the Link team has managed towns in northern part of Malvern.

Executive director, Clare Huyton, has announced with immediate effect, the two teams will merge under the leadership of Peter Gill, area housing officer for Malvern.

"Since moving into our new purpose-built offices, we have had the advantage of new information technology systems that allow us to undertake our work more efficiently and the need to split these area into two has gone.

"We believe that by consolidating our resources we can offer a better level of service to our tenants and get rid of any confusion as to who looks after what part of our geographical area.

"Specific housing officer responsibilities will stay as they have been, but all housing officers will become part of a larger team."