Riverside - North East landlord goes Dutch

Housing specialists from the North East shared their expertise with fellow professionals from Holland, when Dutch housing association Thuswonen visited the area and met their counterparts from Riverside.

The team, from Holland’s North East Friesland, found out more about Riverside’s regeneration work, supported housing, and care for the elderly, on a whistle stop tour of Newcastle and Haydon Bridge.

Divisional director for Riverside, Steve Ward said: “We were delighted to meet the Dutch housing team. They were interested in finding out more about our working practices to compare with their system in Holland. We have a lot to learn from them too. It was great to hear their perspective on social housing.”

Housing associations in Holland own around one third of homes, compared with one in five in the UK. With many more people living in social housing there is also reduced stigma attached to it compared with UK culture. Most areas are mixed in terms of home owners and tenants who rent properties, avoiding ghettos – a system that Riverside is firmly committed to.

As part of the tour, the visitors went to one of Riverside’s new housing estates in Haydon Bridge, a mix of affordable housing for rent and sale, by developers Bellway.

Thuswonen Chief Executive Roelof Kuik said: “This has been a rewarding visit to see how an English housing association works. The main differences are in financial management, building specification and Local Authority liaison. I’m looking forward to working with Steve in the future.”

Steve Ward is planning a trip to Holland to meet their housing association staff and will be offering job shadowing opportunities for Dutch staff at Riverside’s North East base in Gateshead.