Charter Community Housing, a member of leading housing provider Sanctuary Group, has converted to charitable status following a successful application to become an Industrial & Provident Society.

The move to charitable status is likely to result in significant tax savings and residents are set to reap the benefits as the association plans to reinvest the savings into improved services and provision of new affordable homes in Oxfordshire.

One of Sanctuary’s key aims when Charter joined the Group was to convert it to a charitable Industrial & Provident Society - a move designed to eliminate the corporation tax liabilities that Charter was incurring as a company ‘limited by guarantee’.

David Bennett, Sanctuary’s Group Chief Executive, commented: “Charter’s conversion to charitable status is hugely significant for the residents as it will result in valuable savings which can be reinvested into the community.

“We intend to ask our residents which services they would like us to develop further and any new ideas for improvement. We also aim to create opportunities to provide local people with more affordable housing in the region.”

Charter Community Housing became a member of Sanctuary Group in August 2007 and Banbury Homes followed suit in April 2007. Sanctuary reunited the former Cherwell District Council residents by merging the two organisations into one, creating a single management team capable of delivering cost-effective and improved housing services to residents throughout Oxfordshire.