The UK's largest housing association, with over 125,000 affordable homes for about 360,000 people, plus a charity foundation and a development arm called Latimer.
Clarion Housing Group is a social landlord, which means it provides homes at lower than market cost to people who need them most. By its own count it has over 125,000 homes across more than 155 local authority areas in England, and about 360,000 people live in them. Alongside homes to rent, it offers shared ownership, supported housing for vulnerable people and a Rent 4 Less scheme for working people. It is organised into Clarion Housing, the landlord; Latimer, its development arm that builds homes to sell and to rent; and Clarion Futures, its charitable foundation.
The group's mission, in its own words, is "providing homes for those who need them most". It describes itself as "a business for social purpose" that reinvests any surplus, says it wants to "make every penny count", and has a goal of reaching zero carbon by 2050. In 2024 it said it was the first UK housing association to launch a Climate Transition Plan. Clarion Futures runs one of the country's largest social investment programmes. In 2025-26 it reported helping 1,287 people into work and supporting over 10,000 people with digital skills, according to the group.
The roots go back to 1900, when William Sutton, who made his money from a parcel delivery service, left his estate to provide housing for people who could not afford it. That bequest created the Sutton Dwellings Trust, which became Affinity Sutton. Circle 33 was founded in 1968 by architects David Bernstein and David Levitt and their wives, Beverly and Christian, in the wake of the BBC drama Cathy Come Home. Affinity Sutton and Circle merged in 2016 to form Clarion. Its registered office is at Greater London House in Camden, and it has homes mainly in London, the South East, East Anglia and Birmingham. The group has said it works with hundreds of organisations across the UK.
Clarion says it has a team of about 4,200 people, and that it was named Employer of the Year at the Housing Heroes Awards in 2025 and that Latimer was named Affordable Housing Provider of the Year in 2026. Those are the group's own reports. Group Chief Executive Clare Miller has said staff have a responsibility to deliver William Sutton's vision of good quality homes for the people who need them most. Its job advertisements include roles such as junior caretaker, so the work ranges from caring for buildings to development and finance.
Roles in a group like this cover housing and neighbourhood management, repairs and caretaking, development and planning, sales and marketing for Latimer, community investment through Clarion Futures, and the finance, legal and technology teams that keep it running. We did not find a list of formal company values, so we have not invented one. Clarion's own site is the best place to read more about each part of the group.
Website: www.clarionhg.com
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