Who we are

We provide great quality, affordable homes for people who cannot afford to rent or buy in the private sector. We build communities across Oxfordshire and beyond. We see resident engagement as a key part of our success – with nearly 90% of our residents satisfied with our service.

Our vision is for strong, vibrant and sustainable communities where everyone can find a home.

Our organisational values shape all that we do.

Committed

We put residents’ wellbeing first and go the extra mile.

Invested in local communities

We are passionate about building stronger communities, in partnership with others.

Open and honest

We are clear about what we can and can’t do, and share information so we can be held to account.

Mutual

We belong to our residents and communities and make decisions together.

We are here for the long term

Our story began in 1997 when local council housing tenants in South Oxfordshire voted to transfer their homes to a new organisation. Over 5,000 homes were moved over to what was then called South Oxfordshire Housing Association.

After the transfer, we spent time to improve the condition of the properties we’d taken over and, once they were up to standard, we started to build more. The first of these, at Sonning Common, came online in 2000, quickly followed by our first shared ownership homes, in Benson, in 2001. The name of the organisation was changed to Soha Housing in 2000.
(pictured) Soha Housing Logo used until 2020

In 2001/03 we were key to the regeneration of Berinsfield, when we demolished 59 unpopular flats and developed 71 new homes in their place.

In 2003, we started looking outside South Oxfordshire to build when we developed in Marcham part of the the Vale of White Horse District Council area.

We are proudly responsible for the first energy-efficient newbuilds in South Oxfordshire built in 2004 and, by 2005, we had housed 83 key workers.

2010 celebrated our 1000th home and also our first development with a mix of privately rented, owner occupied and social homes. Two years later in 2012 we opened our first Extra Care Scheme in Thame which also happened to be the first in South Oxfordshire.

We built our 2,000th home in 2015 and in 2019, we were rated the third largest housing association for development as a proportion of stock because in the year 2018/19, we handed over 229 homes.

Back to 2017 when we became a mutual organisation. We wanted to embed our co-regulatory approach and since then, our residents have been able to become shareholding Members and take real ownership of the organisation as we move forward. Read more here about what it means for Members.

2023 saw us bring in a hyper-local model of neighbourhood work: there’s more about how specialists are working in communities here. In the realm of Independent Living, we opened our largest ever Retirement Living facility (in Wallingford) and manage the majority of homes at social rent.

In 2024 we built our first absolute net zero homes in Hook Norton (winning the Inside Housing Development Award for Best Affordable Housing) and rebuilt a block of flats to net zero carbon in use. Hook Norton was our second partnership with a Community Land Trust (CLT) the first having been in Oxford, with completion of a block of flats the year before. We’re now working with a third CLT in Thame, expecting to deliver 31 homes in Summer 2027. We’ve been retro-fitting our least energy-efficient homes for two years and aim to have every house up to EPCC or above by 2030.

Now, in 2025, at 28 years old, we own over 8,000 homes in South Oxfordshire and neighbouring Districts and Counties and have brought our repairs service in house with the launch in May of Soha Response.

Soha currently employs 220 staff across Soha and Soha Response and is planning a trades operative apprenticeship scheme for 2026.