Sovereign and Network have announced a plan to merge to create an 82,000-home housing association giant.

The boards of the two organisations have agreed the plan which they believe will enable the organisations to build 25,000 homes over 10 years.

This would be 4,000 more than they had been planning to build as separate organisations, according to a spokesperson for Sovereign.

Under the plan, Network would initially join Sovereign as a subsidiary on 1 October. They would then look to a full amalgamation, in which Network would no longer exist as a separate entity, in April 2025.