The housing association Thrive Homes has acquired 12 homes in Mill End, Rickmansworth, from Circle Housing South Anglia.

Tenants in the mix of two and three-bedroom affordable rented homes have now transferred to Thrive.

Thrive Operations Director Jo Barrett said the transfer to a smaller housing association would lead to a better, more responsive service for residents.

She said: "We already own a number of homes in Mill End, so it will be very easy to manage these new properties.

"The move is part of our plans to build and increase our stock of affordable housing in key areas where we want to work.

"This ties in with the ambitions in Thrive’s strategic plan, to increase our stock by 150 homes through acquisitions and new developments by 2019."

She added: "Our new tenants are aware that we already have a strong presence in the community and seem pleased that we are locally based. The top priority for all the residents we have spoken to so far is getting repairs done."

In January, Thrive expanded into a new area when it acquired its first homes in Milton Keynes - 15 houses in the village of Simpson - from Southern Housing Group.

Thrive owns and manages more than 4,000 homes in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. As well as its recent acquisitions, the housing association completed its first new-build homes last year and has a number of other development plans in the pipeline.