Under-fire Rochdale Boroughwide Housing appoints Amanda Newton as new boss
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing has appointed a new permanent chief executive as it looks to move on from last year’s controversy over the death of a toddler due to black mould in one of its properties.
The 12,700-home housing association has announced Amanda Newton as its new chief executive. Newton will join from Merseyside-based Livv Housing Group, where she has worked for four years as executive director of customer insight.
Newton, who takes up the RBH role in the autumn, said she wants to move forward with a recovery plan to “rebuild an organisation that focuses on its tenants.” She said: “We will approach this together with an unwavering commitment to do the very best for the people of Rochdale who live in our homes today and in the future.”
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Previous permanent chief executive Gareth Swarbrick was sacked last November after a media furore following the death two-year-old Awaab Ishak. A coroner at the inquest into the child’s death called the tragedy a “a defining moment” for the housing sector.
Former East Thames boss Yvonne Arrowsmith has been acting as interim chief executive for the past few months
Housing secretary Michael Gove pledged to block affordable housing providers who breached consumer standards from receiving development funding following the news of the death.
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