Great homes: places where people are proud to live

About Origin Housing

Having a safe and secure place you can call home is one of the most important things in life

Origin Housing started as St. Pancras House Improvement Society, a charitable organisation founded by Father Basil Jellicoe in 1924. Father Jellicoe believed that good quality and affordable housing is a foundation for a successful life. Origin Housing came to be thanks to a series of mergers with other organisations including the Humanist Housing Association.

We are a registered housing association, managing over 7,800 homes in London and Hertfordshire and working in 14 areas. Our aim is to provide affordable housing in communities that people are proud to live in. Housing is a long-term commitment, so it is important to us that we build quality property and continue to invest in keeping homes at modern standards over many decades.

On 16 April 2024, we completed a merger to become a subsidiary of Places for People.

About Places for People

We are Places for People, the UK’s leading Social Enterprise. We change lives by creating and supporting thriving Communities.

Our business consists of complementary companies that are market leaders in homes and Communities, regeneration and development, investment management, property management and leisure.

We own or manage more than 240,000 properties that are homes to around 500,000 Customers right across the UK.

We operate 100 leisure facilities that support the health and wellbeing of our Customers with an average of 1.9m visits a month.

Using the power of partnership and working collaboratively, almost 11,600 colleagues in more than 20 specialist companies create Communities and provide People with opportunities and choices in a way that few organisations can match.

What sets us apart from other organisations, is that beyond providing housing or leisure opportunities, we have a genuine commitment to improving people’s lives and Communities as a whole. Through our social impact work, we use our precious resources to make a real and lasting difference through schemes that offer support with employment, health and wellbeing, finances, homelessness prevention and more. In 2022, our social impact work delivered £272 million in wellbeing value to Communities and £300 million in 2023.

Great homes: places where people are proud to live

We buy land to build homes for rent and for sale as well as buy properties directly from private house builders. The homes we provide are for letting at a subsidised rent, part-rent part-buy (called shared ownership) and outright sale. All of the profits from our sales and lettings support our charitable objective. We finance this by raising loans, proceeds from sales, along with a small amount of government grant.

We strive to be a top-performing landlord, property manager and provider of care and support services. Customers are our priority and we want them to be positive about the services we provide.

We want our communities to be places where people feel safe and proud, and can reach their potential. To help achieve this, we run and support initiatives to encourage inclusion and involvement, helping people to become actively involved in building sustainable, healthy and vibrant neighbourhoods. Our goal is to provide support for people to find sustainable employment, manage their money, and stay in their homes for longer.

See what our homeowners say about Origin Housing

Why do people love Origin Housing?

What an experience. As someone who works in the mortgage industry, I was amazed by Simon’s professionalism from the first viewing to after I completed. He has gone above and beyond for Origin Housing. Thorough, honest, informative and over-delivers. Can truly say he is a key factor in why I decided to purchase the flat. Keep up the good work.

-Ossy

@Herefordshire

For first time buyer like us, woes and worries is the first we thought. But Origin team with Julian the manager have guided throughout the process; very generous of their time, professional, and willing to give hand full of advices.. Amazing team!!!

-Joannabel

@Herefordshire

Good communication, and advice from Julian Agyeman, good experience working through this process.

-Cristian

@Herefordshire

From the moment we Simon to show us the flat we had a very good experience with him! He knows what is doing as a role job and is great at sales! He had an answer to every question we had!!
Lovely to work with him!

-Customer

@Herefordshire

Being a first-time buyer I had very minimal knowledge of what to do. Origin Housing, especially Simon, helped me out a lot. Simon was perfectly happy with explaining everything to me and what I would be able to expect on various steps. Simon had provide great customer service and really look after you.

-Narongdet

@Herefordshire

Origin Housing and in particular Simon has been great to work with. I am a first-time buyer so let's just say I was pretty clueless. Simon is a great and approachable guy, he really took care of me, he was great at answering my questions. I really appreciated the effort and time he took to show range of flats, I honestly think Simon was vital in having a smooth buying process.

-Sanjita

@Herefordshire

I have been dealing with Simon from the first day, and this man has been completely honest and advising me on every step. Even after I have bought the flat, He is still contacting me to check on how things are going. Every time I have contacted him, he is quick to respond back, even when he is on holidays. His dedication, knowledge and willingness to support is second to none.

-Guiomario

@Herefordshire

It’s really nice to have Simon in middle of everything from Origin Sales team. He had helped me through out every stage as I am a first time buyer. He is a real gentle man.

-Ranendra

@Herefordshire

As a first time buyer, i could not be more satisfied with the service that Simon and the team had offered me. Simon took me through the buying process step by step with great communication very responsive and made sure the completion went smooth, friendly and reliable individual.

-Ali J

@Herefordshire

Simon was incredibly helpful and supportive throughout. He's gone above and beyond with answering any and all questions, always being available to chat on the phone or meet in person, super friendly and approachable, and generally just been really supportive. I could not have asked for more support or guidance throughout the process. I am super grateful for all that Simon has done.

-Ayeesha

@Herefordshire

I would like to commend Simon, who went above and beyond during my buying process. Simon is so personable, dedicated and kind which made buying with Origin so straightforward and easy. His knowledge, willingness to seek information and engage in detailed conversations shows his genuine commitment. Simon is a real asset and any seller is lucky to have him guide you through the process.

-Natasha

@Herefordshire

We met Simon on our completion day and he was amazing. He guided us all throughout and was such a jolly person. He always respond to any querries I have and happy to help.

-Irene

@Herefordshire

I don't think that I can say enough good things about Simon. It was my first time buying a flat and Simon really took his time in making sure that I'm well informed trughout the process. He was always very helpful and I really appreciate all his help. He's absolutely brilliant.

-Anna

@Herefordshire

I would definitely recommend Origin Housing and shared ownership to friends and family. The whole process went very smoothly and as a first time buyer all my questions were answered that I was unsure of. This helped the whole process be as stress free as possible and less daunting as a first time buyer

-Gemma

@Herefordshire

I would 100% recommend Shared Ownership to anyone looking to buy. The process is really easy and as I was buying on my own, it was the only way for me to get on the property ladder in central London.

-Emma

@London

The service we received from the Sales team was outstanding - they were always friendly, helpful and efficient. Just six months passed between us originally showing interest to moving in, allowing us to be wonderfully settled in, in time for Christmas.

-Priscilla & James

@Welwyn Garden City

The financial advisor and the Origin Sales team were really helpful and gave me plenty of guidance, and were very quick to respond to any questions I had.

-Hannah

@Hitchin

Search New Homes by Origin Housing

At Origin New Homes, we have a number of homes available to buy with Shared Ownership, resale properties and lettings throughout London and Herefordshire. Use our property search to discover a home for you and to register your interest.

Search New Homes by Origin Housing

At Origin New Homes, we have a number of homes available to buy with Shared Ownership, resale properties and lettings throughout London and Herefordshire. Use our property search to discover a home for you and to register your interest.

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