Circle is one of the largest groups of housing association

Housing association

Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...

s in the UK. It provides affordable housing

Affordable housing

Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...

 and related services in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, mainly in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, the South East

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

, East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

 and Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

.

The group was formed as Circle Anglia when Circle 33 Housing Group and Anglia Housing Group merged in 2005. Circle owns and manages more than 63,500 homes, including supported and sheltered housing, for more than 200,000 people across the UK, and employs over 2,200 staff.

Its mission is to enhance the life chances of its residents by providing high-quality homes and reliable services, and building sustainable communities.

The Circle Housing Group has 12 partners. Nine registered providers (RPs): South Anglia Housing, Wherry Housing Association, Old Ford Housing Association, Circle 33, Merton Priory Homes, Mole Valley Housing Association, Mercian Housing Association, Roddons Housing Association and Russet Homes; as well as Circle Living for sales and marketing and management of shared ownership, market rent and private sale properties. It has two care and support partners - Circle Support and INVICTA Telecare - one of the largest Telecare providers in England.

Circle belongs to two regional clubs of large associations: the G15 in London, and East Seven in East Anglia.

Funding

Housing associations borrow money to pay for new homes and improvements. During the financial crisis of 2007–2008, banks were less able to provide all the credit that larger associations required, although Circle raised £1.7 billion in bank debt as the credit crunch developed. In November 2008, Circle Anglia raised £275 million on a 30-year corporate bond

Corporate bond

A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. It is a bond that a corporation issues to raise money in order to expand its business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date...

. This is the largest bond ever issued by a housing association in its own name. In November 2010, Circle was the first housing group to go to investors after the new government's comprehensive spending review, and raised £124m through a bond tap.

Members

The members of the group are:

Name	Established	Activity	Size
Circle 33 Housing Trust	1968	General needs housing	15,600 homes
Mole Valley Housing Association	2007	Housing management in Mole Valley Mole Valley Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking.The district, named after the River Mole, was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the urban districts of Dorking and Leatherhead and most of the Dorking and Horley...  following a stock transfer of Council housing in 2007	3,800 homes
Old Ford Housing Association	1998	Housing management in Old Ford as the successor to Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust Housing Action Trust Housing Action Trusts were non-departmental public bodies, set up to redevelop some of the poorest council housing estates in Britain's inner-city suburbs.... . Winner of the Housing Corporation Housing Corporation The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964... 's 2008 Gold Award for Building Cohesive Communities. Includes Orchard Village Orchard Village Orchard Village, formerly known as the Mardyke Estate, is a housing development in London, England.The site is currently undergoing a regeneration as part of the London Riverside part of the Thames Gateway. The estate was transferred from Havering London Borough Council to Old Ford Housing...  in Havering.	4,000 homes
Roddons Housing Association	2007	Stock transfer from Fenland District Council
Russet Homes	1991	Stock transfer from Tonbridge and Malling Tonbridge and Malling Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district and borough in the English county of Kent.Tonbridge and Malling borough covers an area from the North Downs at Burham and Snodland in the north to the town of Tonbridge in the south...	6,000 homes
South Anglia Housing		Merger of the former Stort River Stort River Stort is a tributary of the River Lea which it joins at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire at Feildes Weir-Overview:River Stort takes its name from Bishop's Stortford, a town through which it flows. It was given the name in the 16th century....  Valley, Vange Vange Vange is a former village now subsumed within the urban area of the Basildon District of Essex. As it is much smaller than Basildon, Laindon and Pitsea, it does not have its own town centre or railway station...  and Ryeland Housing Associations, which were all set up to handle stock transfers, as well as Blackwater Blackwater, Hampshire Blackwater is a small town in the north-eastern corner of the English county of Hampshire, lying in the Hart District.-Location:It is situated on the borders of both Berkshire and Surrey about north of Farnborough, west of Camberley and east of Basingstoke on the A30 road. Blackwater is situated... , and Barking and Dagenham	6,400 homes
Wherry Housing Association	1990	Formed for stock transfer of 3,700 homes from Broadland Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based in Thorpe St Andrew, which is a suburb of the City of Norwich.-History:The district was formed on April 1, 1974 by the merger of St... . Now owns properties in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	5,800 homes
EPIC Trust	1997	Special needs Special needs In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...  care and support	Over 4,500 clients
Invicta Telecare		Telecare Telecare Telecare is a term given to offering remote care of old and physically less able people, providing the care and reassurance needed to allow them to remain living in their own homes. The use of sensors may be part of a package which can provide support for people with illnesses such as dementia, or...  and housing support	Over 85,000 clients
Circle Living		Originally the 'Homes' division of Circle 33, it handles shared ownership, leasehold and maintenance services

External links

• Circle.org.uk, official website
• Last Assessment by the Housing Corporation
  Housing Corporation
  The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964...
  
  , January 2008