Housing Minister Grant Shapps wanted the organisation to show how it could fund the co-operative before allowing the scheme to go ahead.
RBH has since demonstrated that it is able to raise over £100 million by borrowing from commercial lenders, which will fund up to 30 years of new building and maintenance work.
The proposed transfer of 13,700 homes to RBH is currently out for consultation with tenants, with a vote expected on the proposals before the end of the year. RBH hopes the transfer could take place by the end of March 2012.
‘They [CLG] wanted a couple of pieces of work done to show that the transfer business plan was fundable and that there was appetite from lenders,’ said Gareth Swarbrick, chief executive of RBH.
Membership of the co-operative will be open to all 17,000 RBH tenants, pending a majority vote on the stock transfer, as well as its 600 employees, Inside Housing reports.
RBH's development plan includes a commitment to deliver 100 homes in Rochdale in conjunction with the Homes and Communities Agency's, 'Affordable Homes Programme' (AHP).
The organisation's strategy will be managed between RBH board members and a representative body that will be set up for this purpose.
The representative body will have the power to appoint board members and will consist of: 15 elected tenants, eight elected employees, three members from the tenant management organisation, four from the council and three from other organisations, probably service providers, Inside Housing reports.
A number of smaller tenant-owned mutuals already exist in England and Wales, but Rochdale’s will be the first co-owned with staff.
