Parnell House was built in 1850 by the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes (SICLC). The land, owned by the Duke of Bedford, was leased for 99 years. In 1965, we took over the former SICLC and all of its remaining London properties.

Parnell played an important role for us long before that. Peabody’s 1964 Annual Report described the development as ‘a shining example of good design’ from the 1850s and stated that ‘it was visited by Mr Peabody and may well have influenced him in the manner of his gift to the London poor’.

Peabody bought the freehold of the property from Holiday Inns UK in 1994. A Grade II* Listed Building, a picture of Parnell’s exterior features on the dust jacket of the 1983 biography of its architect, Henry Roberts.