Published: 26 March 2025
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has been awarded a G2 grading for Governance by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).
This follows the completion of our Recovery Plan, and substantial improvements to the services we deliver to customers over the last two years. It was confirmed today (Wednesday 26 March) that RBH now meets the outcomes of the Regulator’s standards and has returned to compliance. The Regulatory Notice issued at the time of the downgrade has now been removed.
Amanda Newton, Chief Executive of RBH, said:
"We have spent the last two years focusing back on our core role as a provider of safe, warm homes that our customers are proud to live in. The whole team has had an unwavering focus on making genuine improvements that are felt by our customers in their homes and communities.
“We have made significant progress in addressing the challenges faced and making sure that the changes we put in place are embedded for the long term. This has been a whole team effort and we are pleased to have met the requirements of the Regulator. This will bring opportunities that will benefit the people who live in our homes today and into the future.
“We will never be complacent, and our improvement does not stop here. Our focus remains on delivering the services to our customers that benchmark with the best service providers. This will be our goal, and we will continue to ensure that their voices are heard in everything we do. We remain clear – we will only know we have truly improved when our customers tell us we have."
RBH was downgraded from a G1 rating for Governance to a non-compliant G3 rating in December 2022, following the inquest into the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak.
Since then, a new Board, new Chief Executive and new senior management team have been brought in to provide strong leadership and drive improvements. The whole team from across RBH at every level has worked hard to deliver an extensive recovery plan which touched on every area of the business. This was externally validated to ensure that the challenge we set ourselves at the outset was delivered.
The regrading of RBH to a G2 grading, and the removal of the Regulatory Notice, reflects the substantial progress made in strengthening our governance, investing in our homes and making significant improvements to the services we deliver. Our commitment to be a great landlord, partner and provider of safe, warm, and well-maintained homes stays with us as we move into the next phase of our development.
Our next step will be to deliver upon the ambitions as set out in our Corporate Strategy 25-28, set to be approved by our Board at its meeting tonight. As we move into the next phase of our work we will continue our ongoing engagement with our regulator to continue to drive improvement and work towards a G1 grading.
Kevin Brady, Chair of the Board, said:
"RBH is a very different organisation now to the one I joined as Board chair in April 2023.
“We have refocused the business back to its core role and addressed many years of underinvestment in our homes. We have overhauled our governance structures, strengthened our mutuality, brought customers into our decision-making and, overall, implemented more rigorous oversight and accountability measures - all in order to deliver outcomes that make the biggest difference for people who live in our homes.
“We’re already hearing from our customers and partners that things have improved significantly, and I’m really pleased to have the extensive shift in performance delivered and officially confirmed in the regrading to G2 by the RSH.”
