ALMOST 200 county properties have been transferred between housing associations after bosses said they could not guarantee standards.

Sovereign Housing Association has taken on 193 homes from Buckinghamshire-based Paradigm Housing Association.

There are 150 in Vale of White Horse District, 33 in Oxford and 10 in South Oxfordshire. A further 34 will transfer from Berkshire.

Paradigm housing group senior housing project officer Tony Lovelee said: “Paradigm aims to provide a very high level of service to all of its customers, but due to the costs and location of the properties in the outlying areas of our operations meant it was not always possible to consistently deliver that standard of service.”

Sovereign said the transfer would create a “quicker and more efficient service”. The association is based in Abingdon and Newbury.

Director of housing and communities Heather Bowman said: “Sovereign has a great deal of expertise in managing stock transfers and we have worked very closely with Paradigm to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible for affected residents.”