Ancoris features in Executive TV's latest programme "Overcoming Housing Challenges", alongside Viridian Housing and Midland Heart. This 30 minute programme looks at the challenges facing many housing organisations today. Specifically, it discusses how new technologies are helping the housing sector to become more efficient and ultimately deliver more for less.
Housing associations must deliver more for less
The housing sector needs to continue its expansion as the nation's population grows. However, demand is now outstripping the pace at which housing association can deliver new homes and this is creating pressure across the entire sector. Furthermore, government reforms such as rent reductions (typically around 1% a year) are forcing housing associations to evaluate their working practices and the technology they use.
Ed Wallace, Research and Information Manager at Viridian Housing says - “Rent cut, right to buy and local housing allowance mean that it is harder than ever to generate surplus each year to build new homes and continue to offer our services.”
Digital transformation is key to housing association success
As housing associations go through a period of unprecedented change, operational models of the past are no longer fit for purpose. As a result, housing associations are progressively turning to digital transformation with a view to automate and connect their staff and tenants, and meet the cost reductions imposed on them. David McLeman, CEO of Ancoris explains how people, process and technology are the key ingredients in digital transformation.
Digital natives are affecting the way housing associations shape their services
Throughout all this upheaval, associations need to continue to consult and communicate with their tenants, ensuring they involve them in shaping services to create successful tenancies and thriving communities. With millennials or “digital natives” making up the majority of their tenants within just a few years, they need to rethink the channels they use. These “digital natives” prefer – and expect – to do everything online, with mobile as their platform of choice, and expect a seamless experience across different platforms.
Matt Campion, Director of Operations at Viridian Housing goes says - “If you look at the world around us, then you’ll see the way in which we search for information, manage our finances, shop, listen to music, watch TV and even socialise has changed dramatically in a very short space of time. Yet, when we look at the world of social housing, we are still a very long way from being at that point. A lot of the processes we follow are still reliant on very old systems that are inefficient and out of date. If we want to transform the way we go about our business, then technology has a key role to play in that.”
What needs to change in order for housing associations to deliver more for less?
Housing associations have come under fire for being inefficient and stuck in the past—and it’s true that many housing associations could do better. So how can housing association boost efficiency and become more agile?
Location is a major consideration in many housing association processes, from allocating property to providing maintenance services to carrying out assessments and safety checks. With faster and easier access to location-based data and tools that help them plan and manage location-dependent operations, staff can become more productive and make smarter decisions.
Luke Stewart Head of Geo at Ancoris says - “Bringing lots of different data sets together in Ancoris Maps for Housing, such as lifestyle data, demographic data, house prices and real time information like the location of repairs teams, can really help housing associations to visualise and action their data in a more meaningful way - helping them to make better operational and more informed decision.”
What does the future look like?
Looking to the future - survival, in this forever changing landscape, will see many housing associations come together through mergers and acquisitions in a bid to meet these demanding challenges. However, this will be only part of the solution. It means that housing associations need to change the way they work to provide better services in a more efficient manner and ensure future success.
Working with our digital transformation specialists
If you're involved in the busy day to day and your teams have been working with a process a certain way for years, it can be hard to step back to imagine doing it in a totally different way.
Got an idea to transform your business and want help bringing it to life? We’re all ears. We design, build and manage customised mobile and cloud apps to meet your specific needs – either alongside your team or for you. Our early prowess in mastering APIs led to Google itself becoming a customer and us building their Exam Platform. So not only do we know our onions but you can trust us to deliver innovation and edge in spades.
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you with your own digital transformation journey, why not take a look at some of our customer success stories or talk to our Digital Transformation Specialists.
