Rochdale Boroughwide Housing owed over £8million in arrears

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) is owed £8.271 million in rent and service charge arrears.

A Rochdale Boroughwide Housing spokesman said: “At the end of the 2015/16 financial year, our rent and service charge arrears were £8.271m. This is a reduction from £9.423m in 2012/13, which was the first full year of an independent RBH. Prior to this, RBH rent and service charge arrears were owed to Rochdale Council.

“We continuously review how we can support people to pay their rent. In the last two years, RBH rent collection has exceeded 100% of the rent due - our rent received plus collection of any previous arrears is higher than the total amount of rent expected. Our performance compares favourably to most other housing associations in the region.

“We have doubled the number of advisers in the team to help people to pay their rent, and we work closely with the DWP, JobCentrePlus and the Council to help and support people on low income access the right benefits.

“We have specialist debt and welfare advisers in place to provide information support and guidance to tenants who find themselves in financial difficulty and those who may be at risk of falling into financial difficulty.”

RBH became independent from the council in 2012, becoming the UK’s first tenant and employee co-owned mutual landlord. Previously, RBH managed houses owned by the Council.