<p><span>Housing association Aster Group and housing trust Central and Cecil (C&amp;C) have confirmed their merger, after an agreement by both boards was reached today (October 28).</span></p> <p><span>The merger, which was announced in June and will complete in January, will see the combined businesses owning and managing 34,500 homes with the capacity to deliver a further 12,000 by 2030 through a planned £2.5 billion investment programme, the companies said. And the union will make possible £571 million of asset management, maintenance, improvements and sustainability upgrades to existing stock.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>At the time of the June announcement, Aster said C&amp;C’s entry into its group would allow the enlarged business to “</span><span>expand its service offering and boost both organisations’ capacity to build new homes”.</span></p> <p><span>Established in 1990, Aster, which reinvests profits from its open market sales and shared ownership into affordable rent homes, has £2 billion worth of assets. During the next seven years, the southern-based business intends to invest </span><span>£2 billion to deliver 10,400 new homes. </span></p><p><span>It has forecasted delivering 1,239 homes during the current financial year across all tenures; it built </span><span>928 homes during the year ending March 31 2021.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>Meanwhile, the London-based C&amp;C, founded 95 years ago, offers housing and care …