Empowering registered providers to build a brighter future

Britain’s in the midst of a housing crisis and whether it’s high prices or rising rents, most of us will have been impacted by it. The government has recognised the urgency of the situation, setting out ambitious commitments to build 1.5million homes over the next parliament.

Critical to meeting this target will be affordable housing from registered providers such as housing associations and local authorities. However, these organisations are already reeling from a triple whammy of pressures that are challenging their ability to maintain the assets they have and deliver statutory services, let alone contribute to delivering the new homes we need. 

Having to adhere to new building safety standards in the light of Grenfell, low carbon standards as part of the drive to net zero and decent homes standards are all taking their toll.  A recent survey of registered providers conducted by the Regulator of Social Housing showed that expenditure on capital works to existing stock has reached the highest levels on record, predicted to be £16.2bn in the next 12 months. 

These challenges are having a real impact, with some now even scaling back delivery in order to reduce the risks they face. When we’re desperate for new homes, the last thing we want is suppliers reducing their output!

Meeting regulatory requirements and standards

Providing such an important service, registered providers are rightly held to the highest standards and if they fail to meet these, the punishments can be severe. A housing association was recently fined after a watchdog found it failed to carry out repairs to a child’s bedroom window for four years which caused serious illness in the family that lived there, highlighting just how important it is that these organisations meet their obligations and are held to account. 

It also means that as regulations change, they need to be able to adapt to meet changing demands while still providing quality service to tenants and building homes. A big part of the challenge for providers here isn’t the regulations themselves, but rather how to meet them in the most efficient ways. Many will be used to managing properties to meet regulatory requirements, but with three hefty and very different standards to consider, this becomes much more complex. 

How should budgets be allocated to prioritise different issues? How can we coordinate work to ensure nothing is missed and they are executed efficiently? How are the changes made to housing assets whilst still maintaining tenant service quality and satisfaction? These are some of the difficult questions that are taking up a lot of time and energy.

Creating the space to build through digital

What underlines these challenges is the need for a more efficient, coordinated approach to both meeting regulations and ensuring they’re delivering for tenants, while also creating the time, space and budget for providers to refocus on supporting new housing delivery. And this is where digital transformation has an important role to play. 

It’s often the case that teams within registered providers are using different systems, tools and data. This lack of unified approaches and services makes it difficult for people to share information and work together, and to understand and coordinate both staff, services and assets efficiently. 

If there is no single view of a property or customer - this means teams working on planned maintenance or repairs are unable to share or access data with others working on reactive repair needs from their customers. This leads to manual interventions, duplicate jobs, and often multiple checks and visits being done at properties that could have all been done in one go. When complaints then occur from tenants,  these are time consuming and it’s difficult to piece together what happened across several teams and systems. 

Providers need to look at processes through a service lens to address this, identifying pain points and putting in place the right solutions for greater collaboration and less siloed approaches. This requires speaking to different teams and individuals within the organisation to understand the issues and potential solutions, and bringing people together to agree on the technologies and standards that will allow better collaboration. 

Providers need to not view technology as a luxury, but as a key driver to creating positive change. They must act now and work with digital partners who understand these challenges and can implement the solutions needed. Working with the right experts will allow them to effectively plan and put in place the right solutions first time and in a cost-effective manner, benefiting teams and the wider organisation at the earliest point. It may sound difficult, but even a few small changes could produce big results.

Registered providers are essential to addressing the UK's housing crisis. By prioritising compliance, streamlining operations, and embracing digital transformation, we can ensure that these organisations can efficiently meet regulatory demands, while at the same time maintaining tenant satisfaction and having the space to build the homes we need. By working together we can create housing that delivers for people, places and the planet. 

On the 14th of November, we’re bringing leading thinkers from across the sector together to explore how we can use technology, design and data to deliver safe, efficient and affordable homes. Register to attend now at: https://pages.tpximpact.com/en-gb/digital-forum-housing