ECHG - About Us

At the heart of housing...

In 1924 our founder took out a loan of £500 to build homes in north London for families unable to afford to pay market rents. The merger of Baptist Housing and Church Army Housing in 1985 created English Churches Housing Group (ECHG).

In October 2006, ECHG merged with The Riverside Group to become its specialist provider of older persons and supported housing services, providing homes throughout England.

For more information about ECHG and our supported housing services see the
ECHG Housing and Support leaflet (201KB)

Meeting the needs of people in need

ECHG has a reputation for developing innovative and award winning support options for some of the most challenging needs within our society. This has enabled vulnerable people in more than 140 local authorities to live independent and dignified lives.

Older Persons Services

ECHG has a long history of providing housing and services for older people in schemes across the whole of England. Our sheltered housing service is accredited to the CSHS Code of Practice.

Our schemes include those offering a high degree of independence with the comfort of community alarm remote support. Others have residential scheme managers providing daytime support, while our Extra Care services provide for those who want access to 24 hour local support when they need it. We also provide residential care homes in some parts of the country. All these services are backed up by our 24 hour, 365 day Customer Service Centre, manned by skilled staff with access to a wide range of information and services. Telephone 0845 155 9002 or 0151 295 6518

Supported Housing

ECHG is one of the largest providers of supported housing services in the UK with over 3500 bed spaces. The focus of our efforts is to maximise positive outcomes to the support services we provide, and ensure efficient use of the funds we receive.

Our specialist services range from registered care homes to floating support services. Schemes include large direct access hostels, smaller dispersed housing units and foyer accommodation with on site support and training for young people.

We cater for people with a range of specialist needs. We have schemes specifically for young people, women, people with learning difficulties, ex-offenders, those with mental health, drug and alcohol dependency issues and prison visitors.

We support people moving off the streets and into more permanent accommodation - from cold weather shelters and year-round direct access accommodation to outreach and resettlement teams.

Please click on the link for more information about Supported Housing