Harrison Housing an Almshouse Charity

Changing over the years

Harrison Housing (formerly the Harrison Homes) was originally founded in 1869 as ‘Homes for the Aged Poor’ by Miss Goodwin Green and three sisters, Elizabeth, Amy and Clara Harrison.  Like many Victorian benefactors, they were moved by the poverty and hardship suffered by their staff, respectable people who fell on hard times when leaving a lifetime of service, having to enter the workhouse during their later years. 

Their first 8-bedroom house in Portland Road, West London, was acquired in 1869 as an experiment and became home to sixteen residents - either married couples or friends sharing.  Thanks to many donations of both houses and money, by 1899 the charity had fifteen houses housing 172 residents.

In 1881, No’s 7-13 Minford Gardens had been purchased as were more of the houses in the terrace as they became available. Today, behind the original façade of No’s 7-17, is a Sheltered Scheme home to twenty residents in refurbished self contained one bedroom flats.

The first property in St James’s Square (now Gardens) – No 42, formerly the Convent of The Little Sisters of the Assumption, was purchased in 1911 followed by No 43 in 1912.  Over the next eighty years more houses were purchased, the last being No 47.

Since 1965 there has been a preservation Order on all the houses in St James’s Gardens.  In 1968 Trustees decided to build additional accommodation to the rear of No’s 42-43 housing a further 16 residents.

At No’s 42 – 50 St James’s Gardens today the charity houses 48 retired residents aged between 65 and 98 in refurbished one bedroom flats.

Harrison Homes was incorporated in 2004, and became Harrison Housing with the aim of giving the Charity a modern constitution and limited liability for trustees.

Harrison Housing now manages, on behalf of other Almshouse Charities, sheltered housing schemes in Camden, Barnes, Herne Hill, Hounslow, Waltham Abbey and Stoke Newington– a total of 161 owned and managed flats.

The organisation has a membership, comprising up to 50 people, meeting at least once a year, who appoint the Trustees.  There are 11 Trustees who give their services voluntarily and meet as frequently as necessary.

There is also a group of seven voluntary Visitors, each of whom acts as confidant and friend to a number of residents, visiting them regularly.

Day to day administration is carried out by the professional staff under the Chief Executive (who reports to the Trustees). The staff includes a Director of Finance, Accounts Assistant, Building Services Manager, Secretary, Scheme Managers and Relief Scheme Managers. Ancillary staff comprises part-time cleaners, and a caretaker / handyman. 

 In 2003 Harrison Housing carried out a constitutional review and restructuring. The mission is to provide high quality housing and support to older people in London, and management services to other small housing associations in the area. We work to the Centre for Sheltered Housing Code of Practice and are only the second small housing association in the country to achieve Client Charter Status from the ODPM. We are committed to continuous improvement in all aspects of our work.

This has resulted in us forming a variety of partnerships and alliances with Almshouse Charities in London and significant growth in the number of units in management, particularly in the last few months. We foresee this growth continuing as Almshouse Charities within our area recognise the need for professional services for their residents and to meet the ever growing regulatory burden upon them.

As managing agents, since April 1999, our longest relationship is with the Barnes Workhouse Fund which has 39 flats and bungalows. We acted as development agent in the total refurbishment of their scheme 5 years ago a project of £2.5 million with the support of grant funding from the Housing Corporation, which included the development of 5 leasehold bungalows. 

In 2004 we began the management of Greenwoods Almshouses on behalf of the Leonard Hackett Memorial Trust (a subsidiary of the Almshouse Association) and successfully managed it through from deficit to surplus and in the process carried out a total refurbishment of the property. A Housing Corporation Audit carried out after the project congratulated us on the quality of our work and had no issues regarding our management services. Greenwoods Almshouses recently merged with Harrison Housing. 

Also we have taken on the management of 11 Units in Herne Hill for the Howis Trust and 12 Units for the Butchers and Drovers Charitable Institute (part of the Butchers Livery Company) in Hounslow.  These interesting projects need significant refurbishment and re-modelling to bring them up to the standards our residents have come to expect.

However at the heart of all we do is the support and encouragement we give to our residents through the excellent work of our Scheme Managers and staff.

Discussions continue with other Almshouse Charities and we look forward to serving a wider community as the organisation grows and develops.