Your questions, answered - and next steps
Find answers to general questions, plus guidance for SNG customers and homeowners - along with an overview of what's coming next. Further FAQS will be added here after the drop-in session on Thursday 19 March.
General
We held two local information and engagement events on the 6 and 8 November 2025, where we invited you to share with us your views on your neighbourhood.
Don’t worry if you couldn’t attend. You'll find more information on this website and there will be many further opportunities to meet with us and find out more.
SNG owns many homes in the Westfield area of Harwell. We’ve heard from our customers that they’re becoming harder to maintain and keep warm due to their age and construction type. However, we want to learn more from everyone who lives here so we can bring future investment to the neighbourhood.
This means looking at more than just the homes, but also the place as a whole, such as parks, open spaces, local community facilities, safety and accessibility.
We have chosen this area of Westfield to study in greater detail. Many of the SNG homes do not meet our Homes and Place standard, and we feel that they may not be delivering the quality and comfort we want for our customers; however, we want to learn more from you about how you feel about the homes and the neighbourhood first.
We're working with external teams to help us better understand potential investment opportunities, so you might see some people out and about undertaking some surveys in the area. Alongside the wider consultation, this will help SNG make an informed decision about future investment in the area.
We plan to share regular updates with you and other local residents, community partners and organisations over the coming months. We will do this via letters, newsletters, further events, surveys, updates on this website, and through one-to-one meetings. We are committed to regular contact and information sharing.
Our Resident Liaison Officer, Lillian, who is part of Comm Comm UK Ltd, who are supporting SNG with this work as Engagement and Communication Consultants, can provide guidance and answer questions about the potential investment opportunities and is on hand to make sure you feel informed and involved in the consultation process.
You can contact Lillian by calling 0800 654 6269 or email, RLO@westfield-harwell.co.uk. She will also be available to meet with you at pre-booked meetings on a Thursday at Harwell Village Hall (committee room) between 11am and 2pm. Please contact Lillian directly to arrange a meeting.
We’re beginning early conversations with everyone who rents garages within the proposed redevelopment area. We want to make sure you feel informed, supported and aware of what this could mean for you if we need to end the rental of your garage space.
We’ll work with you to try to find an alternative solution.
Information for SNG customers
We’d like to have a more detailed conversation with you, to find out more about your individual housing needs, hopes and aspirations for the future. And find out what’s working for you with your current home and what could be better. We’ll ask you about:
- Your housing needs and the make up of your household, including any pets you have.
- How you feel about living in Westfield.
- Any additional needs you or a family members have. This includes any specific medical needs or for adaptations to your home. We can also provide information in other formats (such as large print or audio files) or arrange language translations or an interpreter.
We’re happy to speak to you, plus any family members, friends or care staff who currently help you. We’ll find out any additional requirements and see if we can help you with extra support
During the engagement events, some SNG customers said they’d like to think about moving home in the near future, and asked what support was available. During your dedicated one-to-one meeting with the SNG team, you can discuss rehousing opportunities, which is a chance for us to understand what matters most to you, so we can help to find you a home that suits your requirements.
We’ll aim to match you with a suitable SNG home if one becomes available and we’ll work in partnership with the local authority to increase your housing options. We can support you to complete a housing application if you need any help. As moving home can be disruptive, you’ll also receive financial assistance to compensate you and to help with moving costs. We’ll work through a plan together.
Yes, we’ll continue to maintain your home and the building so please continue to report any repairs that we need to carry out in the usual way.
We’re exploring future investment opportunities for your neighbourhood, so some planned improvements (like retrofitting and window replacements) will be paused for now. Don’t worry, essential repairs and safety work will still go ahead.
Repairs are fixes for unexpected issues, like a broken windowpane. Compliance work includes important safety tasks, like treating damp and mould or carrying out electrical checks.
Planned works are larger projects designed to prevent problems and extend the life of things, such as replacing all window frames and glazing, new kitchens or bathrooms.
Contact us to report a non-emergency repair.
If you need to report an emergency repair, or if you have a severe problem with damp and mould, please call us on 0300 500 0926 instead.
Information for homeowners
Your input is vital in shaping the future of the community, and we want to make sure everyone has a voice in the current planning stages. While the specifics of the project are still not decided, your participation will help us understand your needs and concerns, which will inform the project's design. Your involvement is completely voluntary, but it would be really valuable to us.
We would never force you to leave the home you own unless you want to. The project is still in its very early stages, but we’re happy to talk through what that means for you if you do want to consider selling to Sovereign Network Group. Please email: RLO@westfield-harwell.co.uk if you’d like to discuss this further.