Members vote for UK's largest housing mutual
Tenants and employees of a former arm’s-length management organisation have voted overwhelmingly for it to become the UK’s largest housing mutual.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing held a special general meeting last week and members voted for RBH to become wholly owned by tenants and employees from 26 June 2013.
The 13,700-home ALMO was registered as a mutual last March but has been working under transitional arrangements since then.
Gareth Swarbrick, chief Executive of RBH, said: ‘I’m extremely proud that RBH is the first housing mutual to be owned by both tenants and employees, and we’re determined to ensure that the new arrangements allow our tenants, employees and local communities to shape their own destiny.’
Rochdale Council’s stock transferred to RBH in March last year when the mutual promised a five-year £169 million improvement programme.
Mike Gaskell of law firm Trowers and Hamlins said at the time he believed this would be the first of a new wave of mutual landlords.
