Midland Heart is a not-for-profit housing association based in Birmingham, England. It provides affordable housing and related services across the Midlands, with more than 34,000 homes in 49 local-authority areas and around 70,000 tenants and residents. Its homes include social rent, shared ownership and leasehold properties. 6
The organisation’s roots reach back to the COPEC Housing Society, established after a 1924 conference on social problems and housing. In 1926, COPEC began by buying 19 back-to-back houses on Pope Street in Birmingham to repair and manage. By 1936, it managed 355 homes in the city. 1 Over subsequent decades, Midland Heart’s predecessor organisations expanded and merged. Prime Focus was formed in 2000; in 2001, Touchstone Housing Association and Midland Area Housing Association merged into Prime Focus. On 1 April 2006, Prime Focus and Keynote Group combined to form Midland Heart. 1
Today Midland Heart builds and manages homes and provides services that support tenants and residents, including accommodation-based retirement and supported-living services. Its work is concentrated in the Midlands, carrying forward a regional history rooted in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. 16 Chief Executive Glenn Harris has held the role since March 2018. 11