Raglan's roots date back to the 1960s when two voluntary groups, the Inskip League of Friendship and Poole and East Dorset Club for the Disabled, approached Poole Borough Council (now the Borough of Poole) to build housing for disabled people.

Five sites were identified and one at Turlin Moor was chosen. The Council suggested the formation of a housing association to undertake the work and take advantage of the grants available. As a result, Inskip Housing Association was formed and Friendship House was opened in May 1972 by Julan Amery, Minister for Housing and Construction.

At the same time, St Giles Housing Society, also a voluntary organisation and based in London, was providing homes for young disabled people near places of work, and through mutual interests the two associations made contact. They merged in February 1973 to form Inskip St Giles Housing Association and employed their first staff.

In the first year the new association had 55 homes in management and a rental income of £19,725. A period of growth and consolidation then followed. In 1976 registration with the Housing Corporation was completed and the name changed to Raglan Housing Association, with 219 homes in management. With a new name came a new direction; whilst continuing to meet the original commitment to housing for disabled people, Raglan began to address the differing needs of families, elderly people and young single people.

In 1981 Raglan had reached 1700 homes and registered the Dolphin Housing Association with the aim of providing equity-based schemes, particularly through leaseholds for retired people. Ten years later the Association accepted transfers of engagements from Dolphin and from Forbury Housing Association, a smaller organisation based in Reading.

October 1993 saw the merger of Astra Housing Association with Raglan, introducing responsibility for homes and services to more than 900 new residents, and increasing the Association's stock to nearly 6000 homes. By this time housing need was concentrated amongst families, couples and young single people with our new homes being built to meet this trend.

In 2001, with almost 9000 homes, Raglan began a major review of how services were provided to residents. The 18 months programme resulted in the introduction of our Housing Services Centre, a one-stop shop for all resident repair requests and enquiries, together with local working arrangements for front-line housing staff.

A new group structure in 2002 saw the launch of Raglan Homes Ltd to provide homes for sale, and our development programme reflected new priorities with a growing proportion of shared ownership and some key worker homes, although rented housing continued to dominate our work.

Today, Raglan addresses a variety of housing needs in city, urban and rural areas; we have maintained our commitment to housing for disabled people and a range of supported housing schemes. We now deliver services to some 11000 homes.