Dear The Mercian Trust,

To ensure the correct information is provided to this freedom of information request, supporting evidence is provided to highlight the request reason. Information is limited to two rented dwellings at Shire Oak Academy as the Mercian trust does not publish a full detailed income statement.

From Freedom of information request :
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
The Mercian trust states that rents for the dwelling in question:
a) As above they are independently reviewed and set a fair market value.
b) We use an external party verified by obtaining additional quotes Paul Carr, Goodchild
and Barristowe Eves.

From Freedom of information request :
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/f...
a) SOA Lettings Income:
2020 - 2021: £6,970.00
2021 - 2022: £12,634.00
2022 - 2023: £14,920.00
b) Last review June 2022.

These dwellings are Detached houses with three bedrooms, up to 4 parking spaces and some secure storage. Large rear gardens. See this document link which uses Google Maps. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iZyDIyz...

Summary of current rental values for three bedroom semi-detached properties in the ShireOak area are detailed in this document.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U1j26JL...

From the information provided the estimated income for the two dwellings should be:
Rented three bedroom Semi-detached average asking price £1000 pcm.
Detached Premium 10%, 100pcm
Secure Caravan Storage £25/week. £100 pcm
Dwelling 1: £1200pcm
Dwelling 2: £1100pcm
Annual total £27,600
There seems to be an annual discrepancy of £12,680.

Also note that from the Mercian Trust accounts the money spent maintaining and updating these dwellings over the last 5 years has been around £60,000. With administration costs and other costs not included.

Section 2.22 of the Academy Trust Handbook, clearly states that investments must been regularly reviewed. Overall the handbook states that a Trust must ensure 'value for money'.

Please accept the following freedom for information requests:
1) Who has overall responsibility for the Mercian Trust Investments.
2) The Mercian Trust has indicated that a review occurred in June 2022. What evidence is available from the review. Market prices obtained, Meeting minutes or email information. Only email dates, titles and organisation names such as the estate agent are required. No Personal information is sort!
3) Total amounts spent on the dwellings over the last 5 years for maintenance, any repairs or improvements.
4) Does the Mercian Trust discount the rents for employees or ex-employees? Simple Yes/No is sufficient.
5) Do any employees or ex-employees rent the dwellings? A simple Yes/No answer. No personal information is required.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Davis

Dear MER Info,

Thank you for the information. It is very concerning that no professional review is made of investments given the large sums of money involved.

Please could you clarify your response to the following questions.

1) What is the official position of the person responsible for the investment reviews and please provide the official contact details.

2) Please provide address details of the estate agent branch used for the June 2022 review. Please provide the branch address details of the Countrywide Estate Agents used for the 19th May 2023 review.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Davis