Onward

What Onward does

Onward Homes Limited is a non-profit housing association and registered provider of social housing operating across North West England, headquartered in Manchester with operations spanning Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire. The organization was established in April 2018 (formerly Symphony Housing Group) through the merger of four legacy housing associations: Liverpool Housing Trust, Hyndburn Homes, Peak Valley Housing Association, and Ribble Valley Homes, with operating heritage stretching back over 50 years.

The company serves social housing tenants, leaseholders, shared owners, and over-55s residents through a portfolio of rental properties, supported housing, and shared ownership schemes. Core service offerings include responsive repairs, environmental services (grounds maintenance, cleaning, waste management), home safety services (fire, gas, water, lift safety), care and support for vulnerable tenants, and a Money Advice service. The technology layer consists of the My Onward Portal (customer self-service for rent payments and repairs reporting) and an Environmental Tracker for service transparency, with no proprietary AI/ML platform. The organization also operates Onward Digital Connect, a digital inclusion programme providing equipment and training to tenants.

The business model is asset-based and recurring: revenue derives from rental income, service charges from leaseholders and shared owners, shared ownership rent on partially-owned homes, ground rent on leasehold properties, and ancillary leaseholder fees. Distribution is direct-to-customer through the property portfolio, digital portal, contact centre, and community engagement. A wholly-owned subsidiary, Contour Property Services, handles leasehold and shared ownership property management. The organization maintains a Customer Engagement Community of over 3,700 active members and a Scrutiny Board of up to 18 customer volunteers who co-design services and review performance.

Name

Onward

Legal name

Onward Homes Limited

Website

https://onward.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Onward Homes is a UK non-profit housing association providing social housing, shared ownership, and supported housing services across North West England. It serves tenants, leaseholders, and over-55s residents through owned property stock, repairs, environmental, and digital inclusion services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Housing Services

NAICS

Other Community Housing Services (624229), Other Residential Care Facilities (623990)

SIC

Operators Of Apartment Buildings (6513), Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Social housing rentals
• Affordable housing association
• Leasehold and shared ownership
• Property repairs services
• Estate management services

Headquarters

HQ city

Liverpool

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Rental Income: Onward generates primary revenue from rental income collected from tenants across their housing portfolio. Rents are reviewed annually in line with lease terms. The organization also invests rental income into tackling fly tipping (£250,000 annually) and other property management services.
2. Service Charges: Leaseholders and shared owners pay service charges for communal services including buildings insurance, grounds maintenance, cleaning, window cleaning, communal electricity, waste management, lifeline monitoring, and management fees. Service charges are calculated annually and shared equally between customers in the same building.
3. Shared Ownership Rent: Shared owners pay rent on the portion of their home they do not own. For example, if they own 20%, they pay 80% in rent. As they staircase to own more shares, rent payments decrease accordingly.
4. Ground Rent: Some leaseholders pay ground rent as part of their leasehold agreement.
5. Leaseholder Fees: Additional fees charged for activities such as providing lease agreement copies, reviewing permission requests, subletting approvals, and pet permissions.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Onward Homes is a not-for-profit housing association that owns and manages over 35,000 homes across the North West of England. It provides social rented housing, supported and independent living accommodation, shared ownership and leasehold homes for sale, and related property services including repairs, maintenance, and estate and environmental services to its tenants and homeowners.

Product overview

Onward Homes is a UK-based housing association providing social housing and residential services across the North West of England. The company operates a unified service platform combining customer-facing digital tools with physical property services. The core digital offering centres on the My Onward Portal, which serves as the primary self-service interface for approximately 3,700 engaged customers, complemented by an Environmental Tracker for service tracking. Operational services include responsive repairs, grounds maintenance, cleaning, waste management, and home safety (fire, gas, water, lift). Onward also operates Digital Connect, a digital inclusion programme providing equipment and training, alongside community engagement through forums and a Scrutiny Board. The company manages homes across Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire regions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Social rented housing
• Supported and independent living housing Specialist accommodation including supported, sheltered, and independent living housing for older people and customers who need additional support to live independently.
• Shared ownership home sales Part-buy, part-rent home ownership product in which buyers purchase a share of an Onward property and pay subsidised rent on the remaining share, with the ability to staircase to higher ownership over time.
• Leasehold home sales Sale of leasehold interest in Onward-owned homes, with the buyer paying ground rent and service charges to Onward as the freeholder and landlord.
• Repairs and maintenance service Responsive repairs, planned maintenance, and gas servicing delivered to Onward customers in their homes, with reporting via phone, online, and the My Onward Portal.
• Environmental and estate services Grounds maintenance, communal cleaning, waste management, and fly-tipping response across Onward's housing estates, including grass cutting and refuse services.
• Grass cutting service Seasonal grass cutting and grounds maintenance of communal green spaces across Onward's housing estates.
• Waste management and fly-tipping response Bulk waste collection, removal of fly-tipped materials, and ongoing refuse management across Onward's housing estates.
• My Onward Portal (digital self-service account) Online account for Onward tenants and leaseholders to view balances, pay rent and service charges, report repairs, update personal details, and access housing information.
• Digital Connect programme Programme that helps Onward customers get online, learn digital skills, and access services such as banking, benefits, and Onward's own online services, including device lending and training.
• Digital inclusion partnership programmes Partnerships that provide free or low-cost devices, data, and digital skills training to Onward customers to reduce digital exclusion.
• Customer events and engagement programme In-person and community events, drop-ins, and engagement activities that connect Onward customers with staff and partners in their local neighbourhoods.
• Customer Engagement Community Formal community of volunteer Onward customers who participate in service reviews, focus groups, and co-design of new services and communications.
• Customer Scrutiny Board Independent customer-led Board that reviews Onward's services, scrutinises performance data, and produces reports and recommendations to the main Board on service improvement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Onward spends £250,000 annually on fly tipping and litter removal
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• AccentureminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 20 March 2026Onward Workspaces (a separate company from Onward Homes) leased 165,000 square feet of office space to Accenture in Noida, India. This partnership was announced on March 20, 2026. Note: This is a different company named Onward Workspaces, not Onward Homes (UK).
• Torus DevelopmentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTorus Developments is listed as a housing partner in the Liverpool City Region £85m government pilot called the Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge. Onward Homes is involved in this initiative alongside Torus Developments to trial new construction methods in social housing schemes.
• Liverpool City Region Combined AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOnward Homes participates in the Liverpool City Region £85m government pilot aimed at modernizing construction methods to help achieve the national target of building 1.5m new homes. The initiative works with housing partners to trial new construction methods in social housing.
• Hope CentralminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHope Central provides a Digital Drop In service in Handforth, Wilmslow offering support with money, budgeting, life skills, and employment. Onward refers customers to this digital support service.
• Bury Council Digital Buddy NetworkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBury Council's Digital Buddy volunteer network provides free digital skills support through informal one-to-one workshops at various community locations. Onward partners with Bury Council to refer customers to digital support services.
• Knowsley Digital BuddiesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKnowsley Digital Buddies provides free one-to-one support sessions to help customers feel more confident using the internet and online services. Onward partners with Knowsley Council to provide digital support to customers.
• HouseProudminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHouseProud is an organization that empowers social housing providers to improve services for LGBT+ residents. Onward participates in the HouseProud Rainbow Roofs LGBT+ Customer Voices forum, working with housing associations across the North West to improve housing quality for LGBT+ customers.
• TpasminorOthersOnward signposts customers to Tpas (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) which offers tenant membership and engagement resources. Tpas is promoted as part of Onward's training and support offer for Customer Engagement Community members.
• HQN (Housing Quality Network)minorOthersOnward promotes access to Housing Quality Network (HQN) as a partner organization that offers tenant membership. HQN is promoted as part of Onward's training and support offer for Customer Engagement Community members.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Home Group:
• Peabody: Peabody is one of the UK's largest housing associations following its merger with Catalyst, providing social and affordable housing across London and southern England. As a national-scale provider with similar tenure mix (social rent, shared ownership, leasehold), Peabody serves as a relevant scale benchmark for Onward.
• Clarion Housing Group: Clarion is the UK's largest housing association, managing over 125,000 homes across England. Despite being London-headquartered, Clarion provides direct competition for development pipeline, government partnerships, and benchmark operating models relevant to mid-sized associations like Onward.
• L&Q Group: L&Q is a large UK housing association and developer with social rent, shared ownership, and market rent portfolios. Comparable to Onward in offering supported housing, older persons' housing, and digital customer services, but at significantly greater national scale.

Direct peers

• Riverside Housing Association: Riverside is one of the largest UK housing associations, providing social and affordable housing across multiple regions including the North West. Like Onward, Riverside operates social rent, supported housing, and shared ownership schemes, with comparable digital self-service platforms and customer engagement models.
• Torus Group: Torus is a Liverpool City Region-based housing association and Onward's co-partner in the £85m Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge. Both organizations provide social housing in overlapping North West geographies and share a focus on development pipeline expansion in the region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/OnwardHomes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/onwardhomes
• Xx.com/onward_homes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Onward