Southern Housing Group was one of the largest and oldest

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surpl ...

s in the UK, managing 30,000 homes for over 77,000 residents in London and the south east of England.

History

Southern Housing Group began as the Samuel Lewis Housing Trust in 1901 when Samuel Lewis, an English

money-lender In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the debt ( ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, died and left an endowment of £670,000 to set up a charitable trust to provide housing for the poor (equivalent to about £30 million in modern terms). Samuel Lewis Housing Trust completed its first properties in 1910 at Liverpool Road in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, London. These were: *Ixworth Place, Chelsea (1912) *Warner Road,

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

(1913–1919) *Vanston Place,

Walham Green Walham Green is the historic name of an English village, now part of inner London, in the parish of Fulham in the County of Middlesex. It was located between the hamlet of North End (now renamed West Kensington) to the north, and Parsons G ...

, Fulham (1920–22) *Dalston Lane, Hackney (1923) *Lisgar Terrace,

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

(1927) *Amhurst Road, Hackney (1931–37) *Amhurst Park,

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

(1938–39) In 2001 the Trust changed its name to Southern Housing Group to reflect the changing nature and scope of the organisation. In 2010, James Butcher Housing Association Ltd and South Wight Housing Association Ltd were amalgamated into a single charitable housing association, Southern Housing Group Ltd. In April 2019 ''The Guardian'' published allegations that the Group was punishing one of its tenants for speaking out about planning breaches in their block which discriminated against social tenants. In response, the Trust stated that it had been in ongoing communication with the tenants for some weeks, which was unrelated to any contact with the press. A proposed merger with

Sanctuary Housing Sanctuary Housing is a large housing association based in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. It is part of the Sanctuary Group, which also includes other organisations such as Sanctuary Care (running more than 100 care homes), Sanctuary ...

was abandoned in April 2021. Southern Housing Group merged with housing provider Optivo in December 2022 to form a new housing provider called Southern Housing.

References

External links

* Housing associations based in England Real estate companies established in 1901 Companies based in the City of London Charities based in London 1901 establishments in England British companies established in 1901 {{real-estate-stub