CHANGES to a social housing provider’s repairs service will see 150 North-East staff transfer to new employers.

Home Group, based in Newcastle, said it was setting up contracts with external organisations to provide repairs, meaning the work of about 150 Home Group employees in the North-East will be outsourced.

Home Group’s intention is for staff to transfer to the new contractors under TUPE legislation.

It comes as the social enterprise, set up in the wake of the Jarrow March 75 years ago, said it would make a projected £185m investment over the next two years for routine repairs, major works and longerterm asset management.

A recent external inspection of the £310m turnover organisation, which manages 52,000 UK homes, found repairs were the number one priority for its customers.

Executive director Rosemary Du Rose said: “We’ve carried out our own review of how Home Group provides repairs and maintenance services to our customers and clients across the UK.

“Our review has now finished and we’ve been briefing our people on changes to the service and how some of them will be affected.

“We plan to employ up to eight contractors across the country to carry out all our maintenance work. We recognize Home Group needs new technology, infrastructure and skills and we’ll choose partners who can work with us to provide this.”