Our history

Our first home opened in 1945 for 22 older people whose homes were bombed in the Blitz. From such small beginnings, we have become a major housing association with over 16,000 homes across the country. Our work covers a wide range of needs. We have:

• homes for families and single people
• student and NHS staff accommodation
• hostels for young people
• day centres
• sheltered housing
• care and nursing homes

The beginning - Early Servite Houses

Servite Houses was founded in 1945 by Joan Bartlett OBE DSG, as Hearth and Home Limited

Its name was changed to Servite Houses Limited in 1974 and then to Servite Houses in 1990. Initially the objective was to provide housing and care for elderly and disabled people, but the Association's objectives have been expanded to include general families, student and keyworker accommodation and shared ownership.

Servite's first home was purchased in 1946 at 17 The Boltons, Kensington. In January 1947, 22 elderly men and women who had been bombed out of their homes took up residence.

Servite grew gradually and by 1975, when the Association was registered with the Housing Corporation following the implementation of the Housing Act 1974, a total of 182 dwellings had been produced.

Following the improved financial support provided by the 1974 Act, more than 1,000 homes were completed in the five years to 1980.

The 1980's

During the 1980s, the Association added a further 2,000 properties. Joan Bartlett, the founder of the Association, stood down as its Director with effect from 1 January 1987 and concentrated exclusively on fundraising. On 1 January 1987 Frank Park, Deputy Director, became Director and subsequently Chief Executive.

In addition, during the 1980s, at the instigation of the Housing Corporation, Servite began to build upon its base in the Tayside area of Scotland which had been started by Joan Bartlett in the 1970's.

On 1 April 1985, Servite's activities in Scotland were devolved to a new housing association, Servite Housing Association (Scotland) Ltd which has since gone from strength to strength as a separate entity. Strong Board connections remain between the two Associations.

The 1990's

During the 1990's, Servite has grown further, such that on 31 March 2000, there were nearly 8,000 properties under management with over 600 staff.

In September 1998 Joan Bartlett became President of the Association having just completed her recent successful fundraising campaign for £0.5 million for homeless families. Frank Park retired as Chief Executive on 31 March 1999. He was succeeded by Kate Davies, who joined Servite as Chief Executive on 6 September 1999 and left in 2004. Matthew Fox joined as Chief Executive in October 2004. Joan Bartlett died peacefully in 2002.

The 2000's

Servite Houses successfully expanded through a merger with another Housing Association, Riverhaven in 2005. In October 2007 we also merged with Thames Housing Association, adding more properties to our existing portfolio, taking us up to around 18,000.

In 2008 we launched a change programm called Transform Servite. This resulted in us really looking at our business and having three clear objectives excellence, efficiency and focus. As a result we transferred our Merseyside housing to local providers to offer our residents a more local service and also completed some small stock transfers where again, a local provider could offer a better service.

In 2010 we became Viridian Housing, which we introduced while holding on to our old reputation as an organisation that cares for our residents and provides cost effective and quality services.

Viridian is a vibrant emerald colour, a long lasting pigment. It has a sense of permanence but also sounds very positive and confident. The new name and identity present a new face for the organisation which shows our continuing drive to improve our level of service and our commitment to excellence and efficiency. It is one part, and a very important and highly visible one, of our ongoing programme of change and renewal. Our new slogan or strapline is ‘homes for living’ and you can see below how we will use the new logo and slogan together. Viridian will be a more efficient organisation delivering against our commitments to be customer focused, professional and positive. The decision to choose Viridian as our new name followed a lengthy process of consultation and discussion with our own people and our residents.