Our story began in 1901, when philanthropist Samuel Lewis left money in his will to establish a charitable trust dedicated to providing safe and affordable housing for people in need. Guided by his wife Ada, the Samuel Lewis Trust opened its first estate of 151 high quality flats on Liverpool Road in Islington in 1910. We’re proud to still own and manage that estate today.
Since then, we’ve vastly increased the number of homes we own and manage. We now provide 80,000 homes from general needs rented homes for households nominated by the local authority to shared ownership homes for those taking their first steps onto the property ladder. Also among those 80,000 homes are independent living schemes for older residents, supported accommodation and student and keyworker accommodation, including for NHS staff.
I believe Samuel Lewis would be incredibly proud of how far we’ve come.
The charitable purpose he set out remains at the heart of everything we do, and as a not-for-profit organisation, every penny we receive is reinvested into our homes and services. From the first estate of 151 flats on Liverpool Road in Islington to our most recent extra care and shared ownership development in Roehampton, his vision continues to guide us.
Whilst it's important to look back, it's also a moment to look forward. As a social landlord we must continuously ask ourselves what more we can do to ensure the homes we provide are safe, comfortable and create the basis of good life for our residents.
Our new strategic plan is really clear about our priorities. We’ve a huge focus on our repairs service. It's the one area we know that you really want us to improve, and we’re working hard to deliver.
We've got four residents on our board, residents on our new resident experience committee, on our local panels and contributing in various other ways. Because we can only really excel if we hear from our residents and act upon your guidance, advice, concerns and suggestions.
Finally, I’d like to say thank you to all our residents for sticking with us while we're on our journey of improvement. Together, we’re building on the legacy of Samuel Lewis, providing safe and secure homes to those who need them most into the next century and beyond.