Rebrand for 19,000 home social landlord includes controversial name change

A social housing group who manage around 19,000 homes have started a rebrand which includes a controversial name change.

Bolton at Home, the largest landlord in the borough and one of the biggest in Greater Manchester are taking the town’s name out of the their title.

They will legally become Be One Homes in April 2026. They said that until then, the new name and logo will begin to appear more often over the coming months with the new branding appearing on vans from July.

Staff in the repairs teams will also start to wear Be One Repairs branded clothing from that time. Bolton at Home manage the entire former council housing stock of the borough.

A spokesman for Bolton at Home, said: “You might spot some of our vehicles in your neighbourhood with ‘Be One Repairs’ displayed on the side.

“They’ll be out and about in the summer, doing the same job, just with a fresh new look.

“We’re rolling things out gradually, with day-to-day services still the priority and careful use of resources in mind. “There’s nothing you need to do, and how you contact us or receive services won’t change.”

Giving the reason behind the name change, Bolton at Home said following a merger with Arcon Housing Association, around 4,000 of their customers are now based outside of Bolton. Bolton at Home said they were introducing the new name and branding in a phased way ‘to make best use of our time and resources’.

The name change decision has not come without criticism. In January, Bolton Council’s leader, Nick Peel said there was ‘absolutely no need to do what they are doing’.

He added: “They took over a smaller housing provider and they could have kept the names. “There was no rationale to change its name.

“There’s no competitive or investment inducing argument, they simply wanted to not be associated with a single geographical area and that’s a crying shame.”

At that time Noel Sharpe, CEO of Bolton At Home, explained the rationale behind its re-branding. She said: “Though Bolton is, and will remain, our heartland, we’ve been developing and managing more homes outside of the borough over the last few years.

“Joining together with Arcon has further added to the number of homes we have in other areas of Greater Manchester and the Northwest. “We want all our customers, staff and stakeholders to feel valued by and connected with us.

“For these reasons we decided to explore a new name that’s not location-specific and better reflects our shared values. “Be One Homes embodies our commitment to accountability, inclusivity and togetherness.”