Real-time property operations pioneer Plentific has launched its latest The State of Social Housing 2024 Whitepaper leveraging technology to support the UK housing sector to deliver a compliant, tenant-first experience.
Pre-elections, UK social landlords are facing high costs of materials and labour, with stronger regulation on the back of Awaab’s Law, which entered the statute book on July 20th last year as clause 42 of the Social Housing Regulation Act.
Plentific’s latest Whitepaper follows its recent Experience is Everything report, exploring the maintenance issues impacting social housing residents in the UK, US and Germany, which revealed that 72% of British residents faced household maintenance issues over the past 12 months, with those in their 30s and under suffering the most frequent complaints.
The Whitepaper traces a steady decrease in home completion times over the past three years, further supporting the Ombudsman’s view that social landlords are prioritising the health and general satisfaction of their residents, listening to their concerns.
The Regulator for Social Housing has introduced four new standards which have come into effect on 1st April; Safety and Quality, Transparency, Influence and Accountability, Neighbourhood and Community and the Tenancy Standard.
The Regulator has also announced plans to release the first year of Tenant Satisfaction Measures data in the Autumn; the submission deadline for landlords overseeing 1,000 or more homes is set for 30th June.
In terms of tackling significant void losses in the social housing sector, the right software can help to move a property much faster through the repairs cycle ahead of being released for occupation, reducing handover delays. Plentific’s average repairs and maintenance completion time for housing providers tracked in its platform is 2.3 days, with a first-time fix rate of 91%.
Unreported damage can escalate into larger issues with far-reaching consequences, including inflated repair costs and heightened risks of tenant complaints, Regulator of Social Housing judgements and reputational damage. Utilising software can streamline reminders and actions associated with inspections and repairs for items beyond their warranty period. Advanced AI-powered solutions offer the potential to transition providers from a reactive to a predictive maintenance approach, anticipating issues before they arise and mitigating costly damage.
With the right software, social landlords can have a real-time view of the cost of repairs. Costs can be managed more effectively by providing contractors with a cost framework ensuring more accurate quoting. In addition, software can help to monitor the difference between quoted fees and final invoices, as a means of predicting future costs. Contractor pricing practices can be tracked, flagging contractors who are consistently escalating their original quotations.
Property management software can help to alleviate the data burden on social landlords, by centralising data gathered from built-in inspections, assuring its accuracy and accessibility in real-time. The Housing Association’s Charitable Trust (HACT) estimates that 25-30% of all resources are utilised for the recording, collating, cleaning and re-keying of poor-quality data. By streamlining data management processes, software can help to reduce the burden of manual data entry enabling staff to focus on delivering high-quality services to residents.
Cem Savas, CEO of Plentific, said: “For most, 2024 will be the year of doing more with less. Increasingly we’re seeing providers adjusting for a more robust operating model with the help of technology which acts as a multiplier of their existing capabilities, delivering a tenant-first experience, while simultaneously increasing operational efficiency to ensure compliance and prevent unnecessary financial losses. It is evident that a shift towards a more collaborative partnership between the government and housing associations is critical. Especially if housing associations are to sustain their contributions to the social housing sector, from new-builds to the retrofitting of existing stock.”
From a Report on November 8th last year, Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, added: “Two years since we published our in-depth Spotlight report on damp and mould — and a year on from the landmark inquest into the avoidable death of Awaab Ishak — we are seeing an unprecedented focus by landlords on strengthening their handling of these cases. Overall, it is clear from landlords’ compliance with our orders that there is stronger leadership, better training, more use of technology and greater investment into tackling the root causes of damp and mould.’
Former CEO of Notting Hill Genesis and social housing advisor Kate Davies said in her recent Whitepaper, Social Housing: radical reform through better collaboration, interdependent working and technological innovation: “Although building new homes is urgent and essential, this must never be at the expense of social tenants or their homes.”
To download Plentific’s The State of Social Housing 2024 Whitepaper please visit: plentific.com
In January, Plentific released a research report highlighting how communication channels between UK housing providers and their residents need to be remodelled to enhance repairs and maintenance performance. More on this story here.
