Three years later, in a letter to The Times on 26 March 1862, he launched the Peabody Donation Fund, with an initial gift of £150,000. The aim of the organisation, he said, would be to "ameliorate the condition of the poor and needy of this great metropolis, and to promote their comfort and happiness". The paper reported, "We have today to announce an act of beneficence unexampled in its largeness and in the time and manner of the gift".[3] Shortly before his death in 1869, Peabody increased his gift to £500,000.[4]
The Peabody Trust was later constituted by Act of Parliament, stipulating its objectives to work solely within London for the relief of poverty. This was to be expressed through the provision of model dwellings for the capital's poor.
The first block, designed by H. A. Darbishire in a red-brick Jacobethan style, opened in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, on 29 February 1864. It cost £22,000 to build, and contained 57 "dwellings" (i.e. flats) for the poor, nine shops with accommodation for the shopkeepers, and baths and laundry facilities on the upper floor. Water-closets were grouped in pairs by the staircases, with one shared between every two flats.[5][6][7][8] This first block was followed by larger estates in Islington, Poplar, Shadwell, Chelsea, Westminster, Bermondsey, and elsewhere. By 1882 the Trust housed more than 14,600 people in 3,500 dwellings. By 1939 it owned more than 8,000 dwellings.
In its early days, the Trust imposed strict rules to ensure that its tenants were of good moral character. Rents were to be paid weekly and punctually; there was a night-time curfew and a set of moral standards to be adhered to; and the dwellings could not be used for certain trades.
Current mission
Peabody states that in pursuit of its mission it will: "help people flourish by providing great homes and services and making a positive impact in communities." Its stated values are: "Do the right thing; pull together: be kind; celebrate diversity; love new ideas; and keep our promises".[citation needed]
The new development provides thousands of new homes in the area, Peabody says it will provide firm foundations for Thamesmead's long term.[9] However, the consultation has been controversial, as the ballot conducted in March 2020 asked the 'yes' or 'no' question: "Are you in favour of Peabody's proposal to include Lesnes Estate in their regeneration plans for South Thamesmead?". Whilst having 70% support with a 65% turnout, the word 'demolition' was not featured in the consultation, that is now the threat against many residents of the estate.[10]
Thamesmead and the surrounding area is facing significant change since Crossrail opened at nearby Abbey Wood in 2022. Peabody has said it will capitalise on this, ensuring "the right amenities, infrastructure and transport connections are available for the long term sustainability" of the area.
Peabody Group
In 2014, Gallions, Trust Thamesmead and Tilfen Land became part of the Peabody Group. The Peabody Group now comprises two housing associations, Peabody and Gallions, and a number of trading companies.[1]
In July 2017, Peabody merged with Family Mosaic housing association under the "Peabody" name.[11]
On 1 April 2022 Catalyst Housing became a subsidiary of Peabody Trust and was fully integrated in April 2023. The new Peabody Group is responsible for over 104,000 homes and around 220,000 customers across London and the home counties.[12]
Funding
Housing associations borrow money to pay for new homes and improvements. In March 2011, Peabody raised £200 million on a corporate bond, at a rate among the best secured by a housing association borrowing in its own name.[13] In 2013 it issued a public bond for £350 million.[14] In 2020 it played a leading role in creating the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing. In 2022 it issued its first £350m Sustainable Bond and in 2023 published a report detailing the projects it spent the money on.[15]
Peabody funded the launch of RTM FM community radio station based in Thamesmead along with Thamesmead Arts and Culture Office (TACO), That SP Studios, and Sam Skinner.[16][17]
Prior to its merger with Peabody, Family Mosaic was a housing association in the United Kingdom.[20][21] It had over 25,000 homes housing over 45,000 people[22] and was one of the largest housing providers in London, Essex and the South East of England.[23][22] Family Mosaic also provided care and support services to over 8,000 people.[24]
Family Mosaic worked with young people, helping them into work and promoting better health.[25][26]
In addition to offering specialist housing for people with support needs and social housing for general needs tenants, a third strand of Family Mosaic was its role in assisting people to get onto the property ladder through leaseholdshared ownership properties. In April 2017, Family Mosaic announced that it would be launching a 111 home development for private rental tenants.[27]
Family Mosaic also ran employment training courses and activity groups for its residents.[28] It also offered welfare benefits advice.
Family Mosaic was a member of the G15 group of housing associations in London.[29] In July 2017 Family Mosaic merged with Peabody Trust housing association under the "Peabody" name.[11]
Catalyst Housing is a housing association operating in London and the south-east of England. On 1 April 2022 Catalyst became a subsidiary of The Peabody Trust. The intention is to move to full integration by April 2023. Once complete, the new Peabody Group will be responsible for 104,000 homes and around 220,000 customers across London and the home counties.
Controversies
In 2012, Family Mosaic was paid an out of court settlement by Haringey London Borough Council because of the council's failure to pay additional costs of over £108,000 for two care home residents.[31]
A number of complaints have been made against Family Mosaic in the national and local press, including heating being cut-off for five months of the year,[32] a ceiling collapsing,[33] poor administration at one of its care homes,[34] and a rodent infestation.[35][36][37] In 2014, Family Mosaic took the unusual step of apologising to its tenants after a malfunctioning computer system led to an increase in complaints about its repairs service.[38]
In February 2022, the body of Peabody tenant Sheila Seleoane was discovered in the hallway of her flat, with the Coroner later concluding that she had collapsed and died in August 2019. Investigations revealed that she had lain dead and decomposing on the floor for over two-and-a-half years. During this period neighbours tried repeatedly to raise the alarm regarding a putrid smell and maggot infestation without success while Peabody, who were aware that Ms Seleoane had not paid her rent since August 2019, started taking rent payments out of her Universal Credit benefits in March 2020 and cut off the gas supply to the flat in June 2020.[39]
In June 2023, The Housing Ombudsman made a finding of severe maladministration in respect of Peabody, relating to its failures to properly deal with reports of anti-social behaviour and noise nuisance, which led to a resident terminating her own tenancy to escape the situation.[40]
In October 2023, The Housing Ombudsman made a finding of three counts of severe maladministration against Peabody and ordered it to pay residents £8,300. This related to two separate investigations which found that it had left one household with intermittent hot water for nearly two years and another with leaks in multiple rooms for three years.[41]
Since taking over much of Thamesmead in 2014, Peabody have demolished large parts of the Lesnes Estate, including Binsey and Coralline Walk. Described as a "battleground against social cleansing",[42] the redevelopment plans have been controversial with the working-class residents, many of whom are from the East End and West Africa. In April 2024, housing activists occupied multiple empty houses on the Lesnes Estate, as a protest against the demolition of the Greater London Council-built 1960s-era estate, demanding to speak to John Lewis, executive director for Thamesmead.[43]
Thamesmead is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located 11 miles (18 km) east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly consists of social housing built from the mid-1960s onwards on former marshland on the south bank of the River Thames.
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit organisations that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help finance new homes and it cannot be used for personal benefit of directors or shareholders. Although independent, they are regulated by the state and commonly receive public funding. They are now the United Kingdom's major providers of new housing for rent, while many also run shared ownership schemes to help those who cannot afford to buy a home outright.
The Aylesbury Estate is a large housing estate located in Walworth, South East London.
Abbey Wood is an area in southeast London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located 10.6 miles (17 km) east of Charing Cross. According to the 2021 census, Abbey Wood has a population of 17,700.
Cathall is a housing estate in the Cathall ward, Leytonstone, East London. It is currently managed by Community-based Housing Association.
Poplar HARCA is a housing association in London, England. It is the landlord of about 9,000 homes in the East London area, a quarter of which have been sold leasehold; the remainder are let on assured tenancies at subsidised rent levels.
The Ferrier Estate was a large housing estate located in Kidbrooke, Greenwich, south London. Built as social housing between 1968 and 1972, it was demolished as part of the Kidbrooke Vision scheme between 2009 and 2012 and replaced with housing and retail space known as Kidbrooke Village.
The Clays Lane Estate was a housing estate in Stratford, east London, and the UK’s largest purpose built housing cooperative. It was an experiment in building close-knit communities as a way of helping vulnerable single people. It became the subject of significant controversy when it was demolished to make way for the site of the London 2012 Olympic games.
The Ridgeway is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) "cycling permitted pedestrian priority" footpath owned by Thames Water in southeast London. It runs between Plumstead and Crossness on an embankment that covers the Joseph Bazalgette Southern Outfall Sewer.
The G15 is an organisation of the largest housing associations in and around Greater London in the United Kingdom, which collectively are responsible for managing in the region of 600,000 homes in London. They state their purpose as "working to solve the housing crisis by delivering good quality, affordable homes of all types".
Model dwellings companies (MDCs) were a group of private companies in Victorian Britain that sought to improve the housing conditions of the working classes by building new homes for them, at the same time receiving a competitive rate of return on any investment. The principle of philanthropic intention with capitalist return was given the label "five per cent philanthropy".
Stephen William Howlett was formerly Chief Executive of Peabody, one of London's oldest and largest housing associations. He was Chief Executive between 2004 and July 2017 and was appointed to the Peabody Board on 18 May 2011. He also chairs the Board – known as the Court – of the University of Greenwich and presides over its graduation ceremonies as Pro Chancellor. Howlett has been made a 2017 Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
Catalyst Housing is a housing association operating in London and the south-east of England. On 1 April 2022 Catalyst became a subsidiary of the Peabody Trust.
Cressingham Gardens is a council garden estate in Lambeth. It is located on the southern edge of Brockwell Park. It comprises 306 dwellings, a mixture of four, three and two-bedroom houses, and one-bedroom apartments. It was designed at the end of the 1960s by the Lambeth Borough Council Architect Edward Hollamby and second architect Roger Westman, and built at the start of the 1970s. In 2012 Lambeth Council proposed demolishing the estate, to replace the terraced houses by apartment blocks. Most of the apartments would then be for sale to the private sector. The residents, those in Lambeth who wish to prevent the gentrification of the borough, and those who want to conserve what they believe to be important architectural heritage, are campaigning to prevent its demolition.
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. Dwellings built for public or social housing use are built by or for local authorities and known as council houses. Since the 1980s non-profit housing associations became more important and subsequently the term "social housing" became widely used, as technically council housing only refers to housing owned by a local authority, though the terms are largely used interchangeably.
Housing in the United Kingdom represents the largest non-financial asset class in the UK; its overall net value passed the £5 trillion mark in 2014. Housing includes modern and traditional styles. About 30% of homes are owned outright by their occupants, and a further 40% are owner-occupied on a mortgage. About 18% are social housing of some kind, and the remaining 12% are privately rented.
Clarion Housing Group is the largest housing association in the United Kingdom with 125,000 properties across more than 170 local authorities. Clarion Provides a home to over 350,000 people.
Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) is a housing association formed in April 2018 by the merger of Notting Hill Housing and Genesis Housing Association. Notting Hill Genesis’ primary purpose is to work in the community to provide decent and affordable homes for lower-income households.
Sanctuary Housing is a large housing association based in Worcester, England. It is part of the Sanctuary Group, which also includes other organisations such as Sanctuary Care, Sanctuary Students (accommodation), Sanctuary Supported Living, Sanctuary Scotland and Sanctuary Homes (development).
↑ Bezodis, P. A.; Ison, W. (1957). "Commercial Street". Spitalfields and Mile End New Town. Survey of London. Vol.27. London: London County Council. pp.256–64.
↑ "Peabody dwellings for the poor, Spitalfield, London". Illustrated London News. 18 July 1863. p.73.
↑ "Mr Peabody's Gift". The Times. 1 February 1864. p.5.
↑ The block was sold by the Trust in the late 1970s, being considerably smaller than most of the later estates and outdated in its facilities. However, it still stands, and is now a private residential block named The Cloisters.
Davidovici, Irina (2017). "Renewable principles in Henry Astley Darbishire's Peabody estates, 1864 to 1885". In Guillery, Peter; Kroll, David (eds.). Mobilising Housing Histories: learning from London's past. London: RIBA Publishing. pp.57–73. ISBN9781859466315.
Parker, Franklin (1995). George Peabody: a biography (2nded.). Nashville & London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Wagg, Christine; McHugh, James (2017). Homes for London: the Peabody story. London: Peabody. ISBN9781527205475.
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