An interview with Sarah Ellis, head of aftersales at SO Resi. Sarah also manages the ‘SO In The Know’ podcast, a dedicated Shared Ownership podcast that provides an educational platform for prospective buyers and existing leaseholders.
Tell us about yourself and your background
I began my career in the property sector within a conveyancing company, where I received extensive training in conveyancing law and initially considered becoming a licensed conveyancer. However, I decided to move over to estate agency with the Leaders Romans Group (LRG), where I then enjoyed 15 years in the private residential sector. My journey at LRG exposed me to various aspects of the property sales sector, including branch sales, legal progression, auctions, and assisting in establishing the LRG call centre.
I was subsequently approached by Adrian Plant, a prominent figure in the Shared Ownership sector, to set up a Shared Ownership division within LRG. At the time, no other private agents were selling Shared Ownership at the scale we proposed. What began with Adrian and myself, quickly grew into a team of 12 and an award-winning office and kickstarted my journey in Shared Ownership.
When did you join SO Resi?
I joined Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing in 2017. The commercial blend of private agency and Shared Ownership has proven successful, and we are now one of the largest resale providers in our sector. My commercial drive has significantly influenced our teams; we not only excel in driving resales but also in promoting staircasing activities, which are highly profitable and vital for reinvestment.
What is your role now at SO Resi?
I joined MTVH as a Regional Legal Progression Manager, progressing to Agency Sales Manager. I am now Head of Aftersales and our departments are responsible for resales, staircasing, and equity loan redemptions for both MTVH and our partnership clients. My extensive experience and exposure to various aspects of property sales have paved the way for a successful career and greatly benefited our third-party clients. The significant revenue generated by my teams plays a crucial role in funding safer buildings and strengthening our communities. I’m immensely proud to contribute to this mission.
What does the aftersales department do?
The aftersales teams consist currently of 22 colleagues, soon to be 24. Our aftersales teams put a real emphasis on educating our leaseholders and creating effective marketing plans to ensure our partners’ services are promoted to the highest degree. Aftersales consists of three departments: resales, staircasing and equity loans. We offer customer support and transactional expertise when a customer is selling, buying more shares or redeeming their loan. Matters can be complicated, so ensuring our staff are trained to the highest calibre is essential for transactional success. The blend of legacy housing / legal knowledge and commercial drivers in our team has assisted our customers (and our client’s customers) in achieving full ownership of their homes.
What is the aftersales teams’ goal?
We have highly trained members of staff and a commercial drive, which has proved successful, not just for reinvestment purposes, but also having the ability to assist our customers in achieving the ultimate goal of full ownership of their homes. For us, education is key in aftersales. It is essential that our customers are equipped to make decisions about their finances and their future.
How does SO Resi stand out from the crowd?
We have a social responsibility as a housing association to educate our customers on the benefits of their lease and the main aspect is ‘staircasing’ where they can buy more shares in their home over a period of time. As you can tell, education is extremely important to us. I am currently the host of SO Resi’s ‘SO In The Know’ podcast, which is a dedicated Shared Ownership podcast, providing an educational platform for prospective buyers and existing leaseholders. Our overall aim in aftersales is to equip our customers with the best knowledge possible so they can make informed decisions on their homes.
Reinvestment is at the heart of our aftersales activities. The Building Safety Act is a vital piece of legislation aimed at ensuring safer homes for residents. MTVH has taken a strong position by not recharging leaseholders for remedial work identified through EWS1 inspections where we act as the freeholder. This approach not only provides customers with peace of mind but also alleviates some of their financial concerns. The revenue generated by my team plays a significant role in contributing to safer buildings, regeneration efforts and of course the construction of new homes!
Our values reflect this commitment ‘Everyone should have a home and the chance to live well’ – putting people at the heart of everything we do and guiding every decision we make.
If you are interested in working with SO Resi, please email us today at partnerships@soresi.co.uk.
