How we started
In 1963, Bruce Kenrick moved to Notting Hill and was shocked at the poor quality of housing that people were forced to live in. He began a fundraising drive, with the aim to raise enough money to buy one home to house several homeless families. Notting Hill Housing Trust was born.
Within our first year, we had bought five houses and housed 57 people. Within five years, we had become a large presence in west London, housing nearly 1,000 people.
Always innovating
Right from the start we had a reputation as a social innovator. We lead the way by challenging accepted practices and tackling difficult issues head on.
As house prices started to rocket in the late 1970s, we pioneered a new form of tenure to help people who could not afford to buy outright, "part-buy part-rent".
Shared equity is now the mainstay of Government homeownership strategy.
The future
We will continue transforming housing in London to meet the needs of the people who live here. We want our customers to love where they live.
Our "Five Steps to Home Ownership" campaign offers a range of products and services to help our residents improve their prospects and become homeowners if they want to.
From 2009 we are piloting a new approach to working with our residents that we call Altogether Better. We're taking our relationship with our residents into their living rooms and re-designing our services to give better customer service.