Our history
While we may have had different names, our long-term commitment to people and places stretches back many decades.
1989
In 1989, Newbury District Council, now West Berkshire Council, decided to transfer its 7,109 homes into a brand new housing association.
It was one of the first transfers in the country, and meant that the new West Berkshire Housing Association, under the guidance of Lady Celia Norrie and Betty Ridley, could take care and invest in the homes for the long-term.
1992
We set up our first Tenant Consultative Committee, designed to keep us connected with our communities and help us co-create quality services with residents. This commitment remains true today.
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1994
As we grew beyond our West Berkshire roots and began to build more new affordable homes too, we changed our name to Sovereign. But we had to ask the Queen for permission first!
Find out more about developing homes.
1997
We reached the 10,000 homes milestone - and we also sold our 1,000th home for shared ownership, giving people a more affordable way of buying their own home.
2005
So we could do more, we created Sovereign Housing Group as Twynham Housing Association joined us, with 2,500 homes in Christchurch, Dorset.
2007
Covering Oxfordshire, the Vale Housing Association, with 5,400 homes, joined Sovereign.
2009
With 10,200 homes across Hampshire, Kingfisher HVHS joined the group.
2011
Soon it was time for us to come together under a single name, with Sovereign Housing Association bringing all the former organisations under one roof.
2016
Spectrum Housing Group, which had a long history of providing quality affordable homes across the south of England and the Isle of Wight, merged with Sovereign to create a brand new 55,000 home housing association.
2018
Mark Washer joins Sovereign as CEO.
Meet our Meet our Executive Board
The future
Sovereign has become one of the largest housing associations in the country, but we’ve held on to our local focus and our commitment to providing quality, affordable homes.