Rochdale to create UK’s largest social housing mutual
Rochdale Council is poised to create the country’s largest social housing mutual by converting its arm’s-length management organisation into a co-operative.
The greater Manchester authority is waiting for housing minister Grant Shapps to approve the plans to transfer its 14,500 homes to the new organisation in April 2012 (see box). Its homes are currently managed by ALMO Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, which completed its decent homes work in March 2006.
Gareth Swarbrick, chief executive of RBH, said transferring to a mutual rather than a traditional housing association would give Rochdale tenants greater control over the way their homes were run. This would reflect Rochdale’s history as the birthplace of the co-operative movement, he added. ‘The beauty of the mutual organisation is that it will bring a lot of tenants on board with their landlord. We have a very strong tradition of tenant involvement in the borough …and the co-operative movement started in Rochdale in the 1840s.’
The Cabinet Office is interested in using the transfer as an example of the government’s big society ideal in action, Mr Swarbrick added.
Nic Bliss, chair of the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, said Rochdale would have to take care to involve tenants properly. ‘As they are looking to make it half employee and half tenant-owned, they need to make sure the tenants are able to get their views across adequately.’
Mr Shapps is expected to make a decision on the transfer within the next few weeks. The council’s cabinet will vote on the transfer on 21 March, ahead of a tenant ballot in the autumn
Q&A: co-operative housing
Who owns housing co-operatives?
Tenants, and often staff as well
Where can they get money from?
The Homes and Communities Agency
When did it all begin?
Co-ops were born out of the Industrial Revolution, becoming more popular in the 1970s
