Focus Group Update (January 2025)

In January we met with our Shared Ownership Focus Group to hear from you about where you would like us to improve and any questions you had about our service.   

We spoke through a variety of topics and came up with some actions we can take: 

Leaseholder Handbook  

We asked for the feedback from you as to whether our Leaseholder Handbook was suitable in its current form or whether you’d like a smaller, more compact version. We also suggested an additional ‘Welcome pack’ that could work alongside the Leaseholder Handbook and summarise the key information.   

You told us you would like to keep the leaseholder handbook and have a supplementary ‘Welcome Pack’ – you would like this to include information about home improvements and other important topics for homeowners. 

Rent notification letter  

We asked for your feedback on the annual rent notification letters you receive from us and any more information you thought we could include in them. 

You told us that the letter we send out to notify of rent increases each year contained lots of useful information, but you would like to see more explanation around the Buildings Insurance section.  

You agreed that a link to where this can be found on our website would be useful and we’ve made sure this is included in the notification we’ll send out this year. 

Resales Policy  

We shared a Resales Policy with you to gain your input. 

You asked that in addition to the information already included in the policy, we also add in information about how we will approach the situation when a leaseholder dies.  We’re working to update our information on our website with this information.  

Lease 21-26  

You explained that you’d like us to make it clearer about the Shared Ownership leases that are provided by the government and funded by through the 21-26 programme (also known as New Model Shared Ownership).   We’re working to expand on the information we share and make sure it’s as clear as possible. 

You also told us you’d like us to include some tips on staircasing in future editions of the newsletter, which we will make sure we include going forward.  

General feedback 

You also gave us some feedback about Shared Ownership product in general – that you feel it’s unfair that you don’t own 100% of the property but are responsible for 100% of repairs.   

You fed back that you can feel stuck in Shared Ownership and can’t get out by staircasing or selling.   

We’ve taken this feedback on board and will be looking at where we can help to combat some of those feelings, whether it’s more information and support from our teams or something we can work on more widely.  

We’re committed to keeping you updated on the topics you’ve told us you want to hear more about, but the best way for you to help shape our services is by joining our focus group. 

If you’re interested in getting involved, you can fill out the form on our webpage or email customerscrutiny@midlandheart.org.uk. You can also give us a call on 07720 143676.