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    10 am – 12 noon and 2.30 pm – 4.30pm.

     

     

Who We Are

We are Cornerstone Housing

Exeter’s largest independent housing association, we have been providing quality affordable homes to local people in housing need for more than 90 years.

We manage over 1400 properties across Exeter, Teignbridge, Mid Devon and East Devon, to provide a home for 3,000 people at affordable levels of rent, and build around 30 new homes a year.

Quite simply, housing people is both who we are and what we do. We pride ourselves on being a caring organisation that puts people first and believe it is our emphasis on quality and care which sets us apart from others.

  • Historic black and white photograph of a narrow Exeter courtyard lined with terraced slum housing, with residents standing in the doorways

    1926

    Cornerstone, as it is known today, was first established as the ‘Exeter Workmen’s Dwellings Company Ltd’ in 1926 by a group of philanthropists. They were concerned with the unsanitary and overcrowded slum conditions that Exeter’s poorest people were living in.

  • Collage of historic newspaper cuttings, rent books and photographs recording Exeter slum clearance and the Exeter Workmen's Dwellings Company

    Dr Lovely

    Led by Dr Lovely, they sought to rehouse the working classes of the City into new spacious homes with good living conditions and secure tenancies. It was their mission to provide quality, affordable, rented housing.

  • Black and white photograph of a long row of single storey terraced cottages at Looe Road, St Davids, behind a low wall

    1928

    Our first homes, at Looe Road in St David’s, Exeter, were opened by the Exeter Workmen’s Dwellings Company in 1928. By the start of WWII, they had built 550 homes across the City.

  • Black and white photograph of two women holding bouquets with two men at the unveiling of the Simey Close street sign

    1950’s

    In 1954 we were granted charitable status under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act and became ‘The Exeter Housing Society Ltd’, officially a not for profit organisation. Our in-house repairs and maintenance service began that same year, blossoming from a humble team of two to more than 40 tradespeople today. Photo: The opening of Simey Close, Exwick in the 1970s.

  • Two men in hard hats and hi vis holding a large metal disc engraved Cornerstone Time Capsule 2011 Head Office Launch, with colleagues behind on the building site

    2000’s

    In 2008, we officially became ‘Cornerstone’, a name chosen to reflect the expansion of our founders’ social mission. We began to support those in housing need in Exeter and beyond. We now manage homes in Exeter, Teignbridge, Mid Devon and East Devon. Photo: buried beneath Cornerstone House is a time capsule full of mementos from our past.

  • Map of Exeter and east Devon marking Cornerstone housing schemes with pins and the shaded area projected for future growth. The areas covered are named in the opening paragraph of this page

    Today

    Since our first estate was opened in 1928, we have grown to become Exeter’s largest independent housing association. We now manage over 1300 homes across the region.

  • A woman in a hi vis jacket and a Cornerstone branded hard hat holding a clipboard inside a timber framed house under construction

    The Future

    In spite of our greater size, very little has changed since we first began in 1926. Dr Lovely’s mission to provide quality, affordable rented housing remains central to our values. We continue to build on his social legacy.

  • Two Cornerstone colleagues in branded polo shirts holding a printed leaflet beside the Cornerstone sign outside the office

    Our Future Plans

    We are forever evolving to make our homes better for our residents. See what we’ve got planned.

Page last updated: 21st November 2025