One of the UK's oldest housing associations, a not-for-profit landlord managing over 100,000 affordable homes across London and the Home Counties.
Peabody is a not-for-profit housing association. That means it owns and looks after homes for people who cannot afford to rent or buy at full market prices, and it puts any surplus back into homes and communities rather than paying it to shareholders. Its group manages more than 100,000 homes for around 220,000 residents across London and the Home Counties. Those homes include social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership, where a buyer owns part of a home and pays rent on the rest. It also provides care and support for groups such as older people, people with learning disabilities or mental health needs, people experiencing homelessness, and young people.
Peabody started in 1862, when the American banker George Peabody gave an initial £150,000 to improve housing for London's working poor. The organisation says it began with one man and that gift, and that his social purpose still applies today. In its own words it wants to help people "make the most of their lives" and "achieve positive change". Its stated aims are great homes and housing services, a positive impact in communities, and an inspiring, inclusive place to work. It also talks about creating greener, healthier homes and neighbourhoods. The Peabody Community Foundation, created in April 2016, runs skills, employment, apprenticeship, health and neighbourhood projects.
Peabody works across London and the Home Counties. Its first housing block opened in Spitalfields in 1864, and it now leads the long-term regeneration of Thamesmead, Abbey Wood and Plumstead in south-east London. Family Mosaic merged into Peabody in 2017, and Catalyst Housing joined in 2022 and was fully integrated by 2023. Its website also lists commercial properties in the west, north-west, south-west, south-east and east of London, a centre in Luton and a site at New Mansion Square, Battersea. It says it works with more than 2,000 suppliers and contractors.
On people and culture, Peabody describes itself as an inclusive workplace and highlights success at the G15 Ethnicity in Housing Awards. Like any big landlord it employs far more than housing officers. Its own pages mention gardeners and neighbourhood managers, and a group this size also needs repairs and maintenance teams, surveyors, development and planning specialists, community and skills workers, finance, technology and customer service staff. The company's own claims about being inclusive are its statements and not something we have checked independently.
If you are curious about this kind of work, Peabody is a good example of how property, social purpose and community work come together. The regeneration of places like Thamesmead shows how planners, builders, housing staff and community teams work on the same neighbourhood for years. Its leadership and committee pages name people we have not listed here, and its website is the best place to see how its teams are organised today.
Website: www.peabodygroup.org.uk
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