Riverside started in 1928 as Liverpool Improved Houses. It had 15 houses in Swan Street, Liverpool with the aim of making housing affordable to those most in need. It became Merseyside Improved Houses in 1973.

The organisation expanded rapidly in the 1970s in the wake of 1974 Housing Act and in 1996, with over 19,000 homes and growth outside of the original Merseyside heartland, the association was renamed Riverside Housing Association.

In 1998 work started in the Midlands, after a merger with Leicester Family Housing Association.

A new structure was established in 2001, with The Riverside Group as the parent company.

In 2002 Bowlee Park Housing and Carlisle Housing Association were formed after stock transfers from Manchester City Council and Carlisle City Council. Berrybridge Housing and Lee Valley Housing Association were formed in 2003 following a stock transfer with Liverpool City Council.

In 2005, after government funding, the local community group URBaN (United Residents of Bransholme Area North) engaged with Hull City Council and undertook a stock options appraisal. This resulted in the selection of stock transfer as the preferred option. In August 2008, URBaN selected The Riverside Group as the preferred stock transfer partner, with the vision of turning North Bransholme into ‘a place where existing residents want to stay and new residents want to come and live’.

In 2006 Riverside signed a £203m PFI contract with Sandwell Council and Riverside North East was formed in the same year following a merger with Newcastle and Whitley Housing Trust.

English Churches Housing Group (ECHG) merged with The Riverside Group in 2006.

In April 2009, Community Seven, Bowlee Park Housing, Berrybridge Housing, Lee Valley Housing Association, Carlisle Housing Association, Riverside North East, Riverside Housing and The Riverside Group amalgamated to become Riverside (the trading name of The Riverside Group Limited).

In April 2010, ECHG changed their name to Riverside ECHG after an amalgamation with The Riverside Group Limited. It is now called Riverside Care and Support.

In 2010, following a formal ballot, North Bransholme stock was transferred from Hull City Council to Riverside.

In October 2011, Irvine Housing Association became a subsidiary of The Riverside Group.

In 2013 we launched two new Riverside Divisions by merging former divisions Pennine and North East to create Riverside North, and the Midlands and South East divisions to create Riverside South and Central.

Irvine Housing Association rebranded as Riverside Scotland in July 2021.

Riverside completed a merger with Impact Housing, based in Cumbria, in October 2021.

We also formed a new partnership with One Housing in December 2021, with One Housing Group becoming a subsidiary of The Riverside Group. Full legal integration was completed in March 2023 and work to fully integrate operations continues.