Housing providers
Data was released in October 2022 by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) about housing owned by registered providers across the country. This was based on data collected for the year April 2021 to March 2022.
The latest data shows a total of 73 housing providers owning and managing more than 66,000 homes across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and West Suffolk.
You can find out more about the Regulator of Social Housing here.
What is a registered housing provider?
Registered housing providers include local authority (council) landlords and ‘private registered providers’ such as not-for-profit housing associations and for-profit organisations (adapted from this government webage).
They are organisations that provide affordable homes for people in housing need. They are also known as Registered Social Landlords or Housing Associations. They are required to be on the register in England and they are run independently from councils. They vary in size and can be not for profit or profit-making. They are the main developers of new homes in the social housing sector.
On this page, we have included almshouses and some charitable housing providers, aiming to give a complete picture of housing partners active in our area, and the types of homes they own and manage.
Who are the big ones?
Cambridge City Homes and South Cambridgeshire District Council housing are the only two councils who continue to own and manage council housing. The other local authorities have transferred their housing to a housing association partner, known as stock transfer landlords. These are:
- Sanctuary in East Cambridgeshire
- Clarion in Fenland
- Chorus in Huntingdonshire
- Cross Keys in Peterborough
- Flagship and Havebury in West Suffolk.
How many others are there?
In addition, in each district there are other housing providers who own and manage homes. These include housing associations, almshouse trusts and other providers registered with Homes England.
Some own very small numbers of homes and focus on particular locations or issues – others have a large number of homes across the whole area.
- 29 registered providers own housing in Cambridge, representing 6,112 homes
- 29 registered providers own housing in East Cambridgeshire, representing 5,946 homes
- 32 registered providers own housing in Fenland, representing 6,078 homes
- 37 registered providers own housing in Huntingdonshire, representing 11,488 homes
- 35 registered providers own housing in Peterborough, representing 17,159 homes
- 34 registered providers own housing in South Cambridgeshire, representing 5,757 homes
- 36 registered providers own housing in West Suffolk, representing 13,629 homes
Many of the providers operate in more than one district, which is why the number of providers on the list above does not add up to 73.
In 2023 we updated this directory using the 2021-22 government data. We’ve included a guide to the type and number of homes each provider owns and/or manages in that district, and links to their website home page so you can find out more. We have also added links to regulatory judgments where they are available.
Where does the data come from?
- The list of providers comes from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The data is gathered from each provider in March /April each year, it’s then checked and published – usually in October. As soon as we can, we publish the local information here on Cambridgeshire Insight.
- Provider web addresses have been added. Some providers do not appear to have a website but these can be added, if you can provide the missing information. In the case of some smaller charities, in 2021 a link to the Charity Commission listing has been added so you get a little more background about these providers.
- Provider names and stock numbers will change during the course of a year, so the list is reviewed and updated annually when the RSH data is published.
- The most recent update can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/lists-of-registered-social-housing-providers-and-regulatory-judgements
Look-up tools and other information, can be found here.
Regulatory judgements
Links to regulatory judgments (where available) which are made by the Regulator of Social Housing, were added from August 2021 onwards. The source of the links can be found here. Only housing providers with more than 1,000 homes nationally, get a regulatory judgement. This explains why some smaller providers don’t have a link to a judgment report.
You can find a full list of regulated providers here.
Where an association is part of a group, the link provided may take you to the regulatory judgement for the whole group, not the individual organisation listed – for example, both Chorus Homes and Cotman Housing Association became part of the Places for People group, so the links provided against Chorus and Cotman take you to the Places for People regulatory judgement. Similarly, the MHT link takes you to Thames Valley Housing’s regulatory judgement as MHT is now part of that merged group.
There is a page about regulatory standards here if you want to know more.
Notes
In each district’s table, LCHO is short for low cost home ownership.
Cambridge
In Cambridge, council housing is owned and managed by Cambridge City Homes, please see https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/housing.
Here is a list of housing providers registered with Homes England who own and/or manage homes in Cambridge, with a guide to the number and type of homes as at March 2022.
If you click on the blue provider name, their home page will open in a new window to help you find out more.
| Updated using stock figures @ March 2022 | General needs | Supported housing | Older people | LCHO | Total | Regulatory judgement |
| Abbeyfield Society | 17 | 17 | Click | |||
| Anchor Hanover Group | 71 | 71 | Click | |||
| Argyle Street Housing Co-operative | 84 | 37 | 121 | – | ||
| bpha | 846 | 5 | 55 | 40 | 946 | Click |
| Catalyst Housing | 87 | 8 | 21 | 50 | 166 | Click |
| Cherry Hinton Almshouse Charity (takes you to Charity Commission listing) | 2 | 3 | 5 | – | ||
| CHS Group | 598 | 121 | 155 | 874 | Click | |
| Chorus Homes (previously Luminus, part of the Places for People group) | 207 | 2 | 209 | Click | ||
| Clarion Housing Group | 218 | 24 | 242 | Click | ||
| Flagship Housing Group | 110 | 110 | Click | |||
| Futures Housing Group | 3 | 33 | 36 | Click | ||
| Hastoe Housing | 4 | 13 | 17 | Click | ||
| Heylo Housing | 16 | 16 | Click | |||
| Housing 21 | 81 | 9 | 90 | Click | ||
| Hundred Houses Society | 883 | 1 | 884 | Click | ||
| London & Quadrant Housing Trust | 169 | 169 | Click | |||
| MHT (formerly Metropolitan) | 662 | 113 | 24 | 799 | Click | |
| Orbit Group | 14 | 14 | Click | |||
| Origin Housing | 12 | 44 | 56 | Click | ||
| Orwell Housing | 15 | 15 | Click | |||
| Papworth Trust | 14 | 14 | – | |||
| Paradise Housing Co-operative | 11 | 11 | – | |||
| Riverside Group | 41 | 111 | 152 | Click | ||
| Sage Housing Group | 7 | 31 | 38 | – | ||
| Sanctuary Housing | 504 | 504 | Click | |||
| Stonewater | 1 | 27 | 28 | Click | ||
| Waters Almshouses (links to CHS website) | 6 | 6 | – | |||
| YMCA Trinity Group | 80 | 80 | – | |||
| Total | 4,455 | 467 | 495 | 695 | 6,112 |
East Cambridgeshire
Here is a list of housing providers registered with Homes England who own and/or manage homes in East Cambridgeshire, with a guide to the number and type of homes as at March 2022.
If you click on the blue provider name, their home page will open in a new window to help you find out more.
| Updated using stock figures @ March 2022 | General needs | Supported | Older peoples | LCHO | Total | Regulatory judgement |
| Accent Group | 12 | 15 | 27 | Click | ||
| bpha | 8 | 15 | 23 | Click | ||
| Cambridgeshire Cottage Housing Society (no website) | 8 | 8 | – | |||
| CHS Group | 363 | 33 | 120 | 516 | Click | |
| Clarion Housing Group | 101 | 58 | 159 | Click | ||
| Eastlight Community Homes (formerly Colne Housing Society) | 8 | 8 | Click | |||
| Empower Housing | 7 | 7 | Click | |||
| Flagship Housing Group | 134 | 25 | 159 | Click | ||
| Futures Housing Group | 2 | 2 | Click | |||
| Hastoe Housing | 93 | 25 | 118 | Click | ||
| Heylo Housing | 31 | 31 | Click | |||
| Havebury Housing Partnership | 28 | 26 | 54 | Click | ||
| Hundred Houses Society | 89 | 23 | 112 | Click | ||
| Longhurst Group | 64 | 65 | 21 | 150 | Click | |
| Mary Hatch Almshouses with Diamond Jubilee Cottages (takes you to Charity Commission listing) | 6 | 6 | – | |||
| MHT (formerly Metropolitan) | 63 | 4 | 9 | 76 | Click | |
| Muir Group | 1 | 1 | Click | |||
| Orbit Group & Orbit South | 34 | 4 | 38 | Click | ||
| Papworth Trust | 4 | 4 | – | |||
| Places for People Group | 4 | 4 | Click | |||
| Progress Housing Group | 6 | 6 | Click | |||
| Saffron Housing Trust | 5 | 1 | 6 | Click | ||
| Sage Housing Group | 40 | 26 | 66 | – | ||
| Sanctuary & Sanctuary Affordable Housing | 3,222 | 52 | 951 | 105 | 4,330 | Click |
| Sovereign Housing | 1 | 1 | Click | |||
| Stonewater | 25 | 9 | 34 | Click | ||
| Total | 4,286 | 115 | 1,022 | 523 | 5,946 |
Fenland
Here is a list of housing providers registered with Homes England who own and/or manage homes in Fenland, with a guide to the number and type of homes as at March 2022.
If you click on the blue provider name, their home page will open in a new window to help you find out more.
Huntingdonshire
Here is a list of housing providers registered with Homes England who own and/or manage homes in Huntingdonshire, with a guide to the number and type of homes as at March 2022.
If you click on the blue provider name, their home page will open in a new window to help you find out more.
Peterborough
Here is a list of housing providers registered with Homes England who own and/or manage homes in Peterborough, with a guide to the number and type of homes as at March 2022.
If you click on the blue provider name, their home page will open in a new window to help you find out more.
South Cambridgeshire
In South Cambridgeshire, council housing is owned and managed by South Cambridgeshire District Council – please see https://www.scambs.gov.uk/services/council-tenants for more detail.
Here is a list of housing providers registered with Homes England who own and/or manage homes in South Cambridgeshire, with a guide to the number and type of homes as at March 2022.
If you click on the blue provider name, their home page will open in a new window to help you find out more.
| Updated using stock figures @ March 2022 | General needs | Supported | Older peoples | LCHO | Total | Regulatory judgement |
| Accent Group | 238 | 98 | 336 | Click | ||
| Anchor Hanover Group | 32 | 32 | Click | |||
| bpha | 611 | 16 | 25 | 401 | 1,053 | Click |
| Cambridgeshire Cottage Housing Society (no website) | 55 | 55 | – | |||
| Catalyst Housing | 48 | 8 | 56 | Click | ||
| Chorus Homes (previously Luminus, part of the Places for People group) | 44 | 26 | 70 | Click | ||
| CHS Group | 591 | 60 | 201 | 852 | Click | |
| Clarion Housing Group | 527 | 9 | 123 | 659 | Click | |
| Cross Keys Homes | 64 | 25 | 89 | Click | ||
| Flagship Housing Group | 269 | 15 | 125 | 409 | Click | |
| Grand Union Housing Group | 3 | 3 | Click | |||
| Guinness Partnership | 32 | 2 | 34 | Click | ||
| Hastoe Housing | 8 | 1 | 9 | Click | ||
| Havebury Housing Partnership | 4 | 2 | 6 | Click | ||
| Heylo Housing | 30 | 30 | Click | |||
| Hundred Houses Society | 191 | 57 | 248 | Click | ||
| Longhurst Group | 38 | 13 | 51 | Click | ||
| MHT (formerly Metropolitan) | 674 | 43 | 114 | 831 | Click | |
| Orbit Group | 8 | 11 | 19 | Click | ||
| Papworth Trust | 172 | 255 | 427 | – | ||
| Paradigm Housing Group | 10 | 10 | 20 | Click | ||
| Places for People Group | 78 | 49 | 127 | Click | ||
| Riverside Group | 12 | 12 | Click | |||
| Saffron Housing Trust | 1 | 1 | Click | |||
| Sage Housing Group | 24 | 12 | 36 | – | ||
| Sanctuary Housing | 29 | 34 | 74 | 10 | 147 | Click |
| Settle group | 4 | 1 | 5 | Click | ||
| Stonewater | 54 | 22 | 76 | Click | ||
| Total | 3,805 | 357 | 206 | 1,389 | 5,757 |
West Suffolk
Here is a list of housing providers registered with Homes England who own and/or manage homes in the former Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury areas, now known as West Suffolk, with a guide to the number and type of homes as at March 2022.
If you click on the blue provider name, their home page will open in a new window to help you find out more.
Feedback?
If you have any feedback, suggestions, comments or additions to make, please e-mail sue.beecroft@cambridge.gov.uk – thank you!