1963 - Stockport entrepreneur Clifford Pott established North Cheshire Housing Association
1969 - Vice Air Marshall 'Johnnie' Johnson set up his Housing Trust as a 'charitable offshoot' of North Cheshire HA
1970 - Manchester Methodist Housing Association (MMHA) founded by Reverend John Banks
1975 - Salford Community Housing Association founded
1976 - North Cheshire Housing Association and ‘Johnnie’ Johnson Housing Trust go their separate ways
1980 - BME specialist Ashiana Housing Association established
1980 - Equity and Provincial Housing Associations established as part of North Cheshire HA
1981 - Central Methodist Housing Association was formed as a subsidiary of Manchester Methodist Housing Association
1986 - Selhal (South East Lancs Housing Association) established, incorporating Community Housing Association and stock from the YWCA
1995 - MMHA takes over First Peterloo Housing Association, which had origins in Manchester Night Shelter (pictured). This was a great fit, allowing us to significantly expand our supported housing offer. This commitment to supporting some of the most vulnerable people in society continues to this day though our many Independence and Wellbeing projects
1996-1997 - Single Regeneration Budget awards (addressing inner-city regeneration) granted for Manchester's A6 Corridor and Seedley and Langworthy, leading to major transformation going far beyond standard landlord duties. Over the coming decade this saw the introduction of Community Wardens, as well as the nation’s first Home Zones in Northmoor
1997 - North Cheshire officially adopts the name Equity Housing Group
1999 - MMHA converted the listed 'Derros Building' in Ancoats, Manchester, into apartments, creating the first new residential housing in the area for a century. It was originally a home for 'fallen and destitute women'
2000 - Salford Community Housing Association becomes Space New Living
2000 - Salford First initiative set up and gains momentum throughout the decade to deliver on the regeneration of Seedley and Langworthy
2001 - Longridge and Shaw Heath, Knutsford, transfered to MMHA from Manchester City Council
2002 - The Housing Market Renewal Initiative was launched "to renew failing housing markets in nine designated areas of the North and Midlands of England" including Oldham/Rochdale, Manchester/Salford and South Yorkshire. This ran until 2011 and had a major impact across Great Places' regions
2003 - MMHA merges with Selhal, creating Manchester Methodist Housing Group (MMHG)
2004 - Residents of Manchester's infamous Cardroom estate picked MMHA to develop new homes for the delivery of their ‘Right to Return’, kick-starting our involvement in the radical transformation of New Islington
2004 - Great Places selected as part of a unique partnership in the Park Hill regeneration project, Sheffield – the largest listed building in Europe
2006 - Central Methodist Housing Association was renamed as Plumlife Homes Limited, with the Group’s shared ownership and leasehold activities operating under the Plumlife brand
2006 - Great Places Housing Group is formed with the merger of MMHG and Ashiana
2007 - Space New Living joins Great Places Housing Group
2007 - 100% of Manchester Council tenants selected MMHA as landlord in Weybridge Road, New Islington, in the smallest stock transfer ever recorded at the time (just 14 houses)
2007 - Stock transfer of Wybourn and Richmond Park from Sheffield City Council, following a successful customer ballot
2007 - Cube Homes established as a market-facing arm of Great Places to carry out profitable activity to subsidise charitable activities
2008 - Eric Armitt named as Honorary Life President of Equity Housing Group
2008 - Our regeneration work in Northmoor was recognised with prestigious Housing Corporation Gold and ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) awards
2008 - Blackpool's Windmill Housing Association becomes part of the group
2009 - Great Places is simplified so that just one name is used
2011 - Large-scale Oldham PFI housing management contract won as part of the Inspiral partnership
2012 - Debut bond issue of £200m
2012 - First annual Community Stars Awards held to recognise customers who make a real difference in our communities
2013 - Equity Living estate agency launched; and Equity Foundation established
2013 - Repairs service brought in house
2015 - Launched our own materials Distribution Centre to further enhance the repairs service
2015 - Government imposes a four-year rent cut; we respond with Building Greatness, making us more efficient and effective
2018 - Hive Homes joint venture founded to make home ownership more accessible to people across Greater Manchester
2018 - Strategic Partnership with Homes England
2019 - Announced as lead partner in pioneering Greater Manchester Housing First initiative to tackle rough sleeping
2019 - Celebrated 10 years of being Great Places, following group simplification in 2009
2019 - £20.5m funding boost secured with Homes England though the Strategic partnership
2020 - Became part of joint venture of five housing associations to form Forge New Homes in the Sheffield City Region
2020 - Great Places and Equity Housing Groups join forces on 1 April 2020 to become a bigger and stronger business
2020 - Work starts on Shorrock Street, our first fully modular site
2021 - Completed a successful £70m retained bond issue to help fund our affordable development programme
2021 - Far East Consortium selected Great Places to help deliver affordable homes as part of its new 15,000-home Northern Gateway project in Manchester
The story continues...