Octavia Hill and our history

The Octavia Foundation was set up by Octavia Housing, a housing association with an excellent reputation for providing high quality, affordable homes in central and west London.

Both organisations are named after Octavia Hill, a pioneering social reformer (1838-1912) who established the first social housing development in central London.

Octavia Hill’s philosophy was "to make homes happy, lives noble and family life good." She believed that communities were about the people living in them and not just the buildings they lived in.

We think her ideas are still relevant today and they influence all of our work in the community.