Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Sutton Dwellings Trust was founded under the will of William Richard Sutton, dated 15 August 1894. Sutton ran a carrier business from Golden Lane, Finsbury and built up a huge personal fortune through wise investments and business expansion. When he died in 1900, he left £1,500,000 for the provision of model low-rented dwellings for occupation by the poor of London and other towns and populous places.
Owing to legal difficulties over the interpretation of Sutton's will and the administration of his estate, the first dwellings in Bethnal Green (at Sceptre Road and Coventry Road) were not built until 1909. Later London schemes were at City Road and Old Street (1911); Chelsea (Cale Street and Elyston Street, 1913); Rotherhithe (Plough Way and Chilton Grove, 1916); Islington (Upper Street, 1926) and St Quintin Park, North Kensington (1930).
In the 1920's and 1930's the trust extended its operations to other big cities such as Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sheffield, Birmingham, Hull, Plymouth, Bristol and Stoke on Trent. The original scheme was changed in 1927. The trust always included a London County Council or Greater London Council member on its board. The trust undertook a further change in 1975 when it registered with the Housing Corporation and from the 1970's onwards has developed many new properties in different towns and cities to those listed above. It is a registered charity and has its headquarters at Sutton Court, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 5BB.
On 1 April 2004 William Sutton Trust transferred its homes to William Sutton Housing Association Limited (WSHA), a charitable Industrial and Provident Society. The group was formed in January 2004, with William Sutton as the parent and Tor Homes, Ridgehill Housing Association and Aashyana Housing Association as subsidiaries. The new group with nearly 24,000 homes became one of the largest Housing Associations in England with a turnover of £75 million and 900 employees.