Driving Digital Transformation in Housing: A New Era for Tenant Engagement

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In the fast-evolving landscape of housing in the UK, digital transformation is not just a buzzword but a strategic necessity. Housing associations, traditionally seen as conservative entities in adopting digital technologies, are now at the forefront of this revolution, providing more accessible, efficient, and customer-centric services. A prime example of this shift is the pioneering efforts of Johnnie Johnson Housing, a leading housing association in the North of England, which has embarked on a remarkable journey to redefine tenant experience through digital innovation.

Partnership for Innovation

At the beginning of the pandemic, Johnnie Johnson Housing recognised the urgent need to streamline processes and improve the way tenants managed their accounts online.  They partnered with Mediaworks, for their expertise and data-driven approach to design a new suite of tenant-facing digital platforms. This wasn’t just about technological progress but about putting tenants at the heart of the digital framework, enhancing online experiences, and accelerating a shift from manual to digital self-service.

A Comprehensive Digital Strategy

The strategy involved developing a mobile-first website, a user-friendly digital portal, and a convenient app, all designed to provide seamless experiences across multiple devices. Research and integration were the two key pillars of Mediaworks’ approach. By conducting focus-group research with residents and prospective tenants, the team gathered valuable insights that helped shape a customer-first digital estate. This involved building user-based personas to understand varied user needs and integrating with existing housing management systems through bespoke APIs, ensuring a frictionless cross-platform experience.

Impressive Outcomes

The impact of these digital platforms has been profound. Within just three months of its launch, Johnnie Johnson Housing saw an 82% increase in new housing applications and a surge in portal users, with a 732% increase in new users engaging with digital services for the first time. These figures not only underscore the success of the digital transformation project but also highlight the growing demand for digital self-service options among tenants.

Expanding the Digital Frontier

Home Group, another notable player in the housing sector, has also embraced digital transformation with Mediaworks’ assistance. By improving online search capabilities and transaction processes, Home Group has significantly reduced Recurring inquiry tasks, freeing up resource for those in greatest need. Their new digital experience, informed by customer focus groups and featuring personalised content, has led to a remarkable 486% increase in online interactions with the repairs section of their website.

Looking Ahead

These transformations by Johnnie Johnson Housing and Home Group are not isolated successes but part of a broader movement towards digitalisation in the housing sector. Mediaworks have partnered with several housing associations, through the Northern Housing Consortium, including Bernicia Homes, Ongo Homes and Salix Homes, helping them transform their digital experiences.

By putting customer experience first and leveraging digital technologies, housing associations can enhance service delivery, improve operational efficiencies, and meet the evolving needs of their tenants.

The journey of digital transformation in the housing sector is a testament to the power of innovation and collaboration. As housing associations continue to navigate the digital landscape, their efforts will undoubtedly shape a more connected, efficient, and tenant-centric future.

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This article provides a concise overview of the digital transformation initiatives undertaken by Johnnie Johnson Housing and Home Group, illustrating the significant benefits of embracing digital technologies in the housing sector.

For more information visit https://www.mediaworks.co.uk

NHC consultations – Get involved

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Awaab’s Law: Consultation on timescales for repairs in the social rented sector – having consulted with members, we are currently completing our response ahead of the date for submission of 5 March. If your organisation is planning your own submission, we would be happy to receive any draft or final copy. Please send to Karen.brown@northern-consortium.org.uk

 

Consultation on reforms to social housing allocations – we are currently taking views from members including those who attended our consultation on 27 February. If you have any comments on the consultation, please let us know. If your organisation is planning your own submission, we would be happy to receive any draft or final copy. The closing date for submissions to DLUHC is 26 March. Please send to Tom.kennedy@northern-consortium.org.uk

 

Competence and Conduct Standard for social housing – we are currently taking views from members. If you have any comments on the consultation, please let us know. If your organisation is planning your own submission, we would be happy to receive any draft or final copy. The closing date for submissions to DLUHC is 2 April. Please send to  karen.brown@northern-consortium.org.uk and tom.kennedy@northern-consortium.org.uk

Competition and Markets authority voices significant concerns with housebuilding market

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The Competition and Markets Authority has shared its “fundamental concerns” with British housebuilding in a new report. The report, culminating a year-long study of the nation’s housebuilding market, outlines how both the unpredictability and complexity of the planning system, and a reliance on speculative private development, are significantly contributing to the under-delivery of new homes.

In addition, the study found that home owners on new housing estates are paying unfair estate management fees to pay for the maintenance of amenities such as roads and has called for new consumer protections to be introduced.

The report rightly concludes that local planning departments are in many instances under-resourced, which can lead to delays in processing applications. Between 2010 and 2018, spending in local authority planning departments in the North fell by 65%, compared to a 50% fall in the rest of England. To remedy this, the Competition and Markets Authority proposes that the government could make planning fees cost-reflective and ring-fence these funds to increase planning capacity.

Along with this capacity issue, the report concludes that the planning system is currently undermining the delivery of new homes in several other ways. Firstly, due to the requirement to obtain planning permission on a site-by-site basis, housing developers are not provided with certainty or predictability as to what proposals or schemes will receive permission prior to application. Secondly, the study found that the incredibly complex and resource intensive nature of planning applications is also undermining delivery. Thirdly, the Competition and Markets Authority found insufficient clarity, consistency and strength of local housing targets, objectives and incentives to deliver on these targets.

Another important conclusion from the study is that speculative private development – where developers purchase land, obtain planning permission and build new homes without knowing who will purchase them – cannot meet housing need alone. While private development will always play an important role in delivering new homes, increasing delivery outside of this model would further help to increase the number of new homes built each year. To do so, the country needs to increase the amount of new affordable housing, as well as the number of self-build and build-to-rent homes. This echoes some of the conclusions made in the 2018 Independent Review of Build-Out Rates that called for greater diversity across the housebuilding sector to improve the rate at which new homes that have received planning permission are built.

Finally, the Competition and Markets Authority also announced that they would be opening a new investigation into possible anti-competitive practices by eight major housebuilders. The investigation will focus on whether the developers in question shared information that may undermine competition in the sector. The Competition and Markets Authority was clear to point out that they are not making any judgements yet as to whether competition law has been breached.

A summary of the Competition and Markets Authority’s report and associated policy proposals can be accessed here.

Supporting victim survivors of gambling-related domestic abuse – a focus on women in social housing

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Social enterprise, Addressing Domestic Abuse (ADA), are seeking information from housing providers in England on any approaches they currently use in relation to gambling harms and domestic abuse and would be grateful if you could take a minute or two to complete an anonymous survey which will greatly assist their research.          

As well as using findings from the survey, they will be undertaking in depth interviews with victim survivors (nationally) and carrying out focus groups and interviews with a range of key stakeholders with a view to producing a free toolkit for social housing (and other sectors) as well as a research report detailing the research findings and policy proposals.  They will be holding interviews with stakeholders and focus groups in the following areas:

  1. Durham/Newcastle
  2. Liverpool
  3. London
  4. Birmingham

 The research project runs into 2025, awarded by the Gambling Commission and using regulatory settlement funds. The research partners are:

  • Durham University
  • Sheffield Hallam University
  • Cranfield University
  • Betknowmore UK
  • Addressing Domestic Abuse

 More information can be found here. Additionally, the team would like to speak to women living in social housing who have experienced domestic abuse and harmful gambling, with more information here.

Delivering affordable Passivhaus homes in the heart of Salford

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Member Engagement Manager James Bryson reports from our recent member visit to Muse and Salix Homes’ Passivhaus development in Salford.

The Northern Housing Consortium had the pleasure of bringing members together to visit Muse and Salix Homes’ brand-new development, Greenhaus, in the heart of Salford.  If you’re familiar with Salford,  you’ll know that a brand-new block of apartments popping up is not that unusual. So, what makes Greenhaus so interesting?

Greenhaus is a Passivhaus building, meaning it has been built to the highest standard of construction and energy efficiency. Whilst awareness of Passivhaus is increasing, there have been very few projects delivered at this scale in the UK. Greenhaus is one of the first multi-storey certified Passivhaus buildings and the largest certified development in the North West.

It is a testament to both Muse and Salix’s forward thinking and commitment to sustainability that this block will be delivered. As we sat in Muse’s offices listening to Simon Hourihan (Project Director, Muse) and Phil Summers (Development Director, Salix) explain the ins and outs of the development, it became clear that they do not just see Passivhaus as just a nice-to-have, or something that is worth doing every now and again.

Why shouldn’t the housing sector be building to the highest possible standards for every single new home? As Salix’s CEO Sue Sutton has explained, Passivhaus is simply “good business” futureproofing their assets from future retrofit, providing good quality housing to those most in need, lifting people out of fuel poverty and meeting their carbon reduction targets.

It was fantastic to bring so many Northern housing providers together to learn about Passivhaus, and heartening to hear others are considering their own similar developments. Hopefully we will see many more homes like Greenhaus springing up across the North in the years to come.

Find out more by reading the Real Home, Real Change case study here.

DLUHC Publishes further guidance on ‘Pride in Place’

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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has recently updated its definition of pride in place, and we’re delighted to see this reflect the outcomes of our recent research. This followed a briefing we held for DLUHC colleagues to share findings from our Pride in Place: Views from Northern Communities report. 

When the Levelling Up White Paper was published in February 2022, the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) noted within the Government’s programme of missions the ambition to ‘restore pride in place’, underpinned by commitments that brought together housing decency, town centre regeneration, and civic engagement. Understanding the important role NHC members play across each of these themes, last year the NHC and partners published Pride in Place: Views from Northern Communities. Working with residents across the North, Pride in Place puts forward the northern view on Levelling Up, what makes a great place to live, and underlines the importance of NHC members as anchor institutions  regeneration agents in their areas.

The NHC has been in close contact with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) since the publication of the report including holding a briefing for Department colleagues tasked with the Government’s definition of ‘pride in place’ and the metrics which would sit behind it. We were delighted to see DLUHC publish their policy statement last month on the Levelling Up missions, including further guidance on pride in place:

“Pride in place is an emotion people feel towards the physical community that they identify with and feel a sense of attachment, belonging and deep-rooted contentedness towards. It is underpinned by their sense of safety and security, their participation and connections within the community, their engagement with local culture, heritage and sport and their satisfaction with local high streets, green and blue spaces, and physical infrastructure.”

In DLUHC’s ‘Update on the Pride in Place Mission’, the Department stated:

“Through our engagement to define the Mission, stakeholders emphasised that Pride in Place is an emotion that people feel, stemming from a sense of belonging and deep-rooted contentedness with an area. They stressed the importance of security, social cohesion and well-designed local places, all of which have been incorporated into our definition. Discussions also highlighted the importance of sports, activities, group rituals, events, connectivity and planning as key drivers of Pride in Place, on the basis that they support the social cohesiveness of local areas.”

The NHC is delighted to see such a strong connection between DLUHC’s output and our own research. As with the Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns, the NHC will continue to highlight the role of NHC members in delivering on the important themes referenced above. As originally stated in the Levelling Up White Paper, it must also be reinforced that work to boost ‘pride in place’ is inextricably connected to improving housing decency. As the NHC’s Pride in Place report noted, residents felt that access to decent, affordable housing was a key part of their pride, providing a solid foundation to engage in the local community.

The NHC looks forward to continued engagement with DLUHC on how residents working alongside NHC members can realise the ambitions they have for areas like theirs across the North.

 

The DLUHC policy paper Statement of Levelling Up Missions can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-levelling-up-missions

Further DLUHC guidance on ‘Pride in Place’ can be accessed here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b2348bf2718c0014fb1d29/Narrative_for_Pride_in_Place.pdf

Pride in Place: Views from Northern Communities was published last year by the NHC in partnership with Blackpool Coastal Housing, Karbon Homes, MSV Housing Group, Livv Housing Group, and Yorkshire Housing, and can be viewed here:

https://www.northern-consortium.org.uk/pride-in-place/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northern Housing Consortium and Belong Network Announce Reciprocal Membership

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NHC and the Belong Network to collaborate around the sector’s role supporting resilient communities.

The Northern Housing Consortium is delighted to announce reciprocal membership with Belong – the Cohesion and Integration Network. As part of the arrangement, the NHC will bring members and Belong together to advance the role the sector plays in supporting community cohesion.

The NHC’s recent report Pride in Place: Views from Northern Communities underlines the important work the NHC’s membership of Housing Associations, Local Authorities and ALMO’s undertake in partnership to create stronger, resilient communities.

Through resident workshops undertaken across the North, participants told us that local ties and social connections with friends and neighbours were essential to the pride they felt in their area, and more could be done to promote neighbourliness and strengthen the relationships people have in their neighbourhood. We also know that social cohesion plays a strong role in developing social capital; the ability for people to lead healthy, fulfilling lives engaged in their local community and economy.

Entering into this timely reciprocal membership with Belong will be central to the NHC’s work ensuring our members are acknowledged and valued as vital anchor institutions, not only providing decent affordable homes but supporting the social fabric of the places they serve.

Belong are the UK’s leading membership organisation on social cohesion, with strong ties to the north being based in Manchester and having Manchester City Council as a founding member. Belong’s work includes sharing learning through member-led Communities of Practice, the Shared Ground training offer on managing community relations, and the Power of Connection toolkit which promotes cohesion through volunteering.

We look forward to working with Belong to bring their expertise on community cohesion and integration to the NHC membership; sharing learning and good practice, evidencing the important contribution the housing sector makes to this agenda, and speaking with a united voice.

Belong’s Power of Connection Workshops, book via eventbrite here, more information below:

 Volunteering provides a unique and powerful opportunity to bring people together from different backgrounds. The Belong Network is committed to supporting all volunteer-involving organisations and the wider civil society sector to make this happen.

Belong’s Power of Connection Toolkit takes you through everything you need to know to bring people from more diverse backgrounds into your organisation and strengthen the wider community around you. It’s suitable for any size organisation with any cause – and it’s FREE. Sign up for a free workshop to find out more and get started.

Workshop dates for 2024:

Thursday 7 March, 10.30am – 12pm, online

Thursday 13 June, 10.30am – 12pm, online

To join, book via eventbrite here.

For further information on Belong and their work, visit Belong’s website here.

 

Look out for the Chancellor’s Spring Budget next Wednesday

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Next Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt will deliver the 2024 Spring Budget following numerous calls for tax cuts from within his own party. There have been relatively few rumored policy announcements in the housing space, short of the government potentially providing greater support for prospective homeowners with mortgages.

The Northern Housing Consortium submitted its representation to HM Treasury in the run-up to the Budget, calling for the government to:

  • Commit to a post-2026 Affordable Homes Programme that provides certainty to housing providers and a level of funding that can meet independently assessed need for affordable housing.
  • Permanently link Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents.
  • Set out a clear expenditure profile and timeline for future waves of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
  • Make a long-term commitment of £6 billion per year across all housing tenures for domestic retrofit.
  • Consult with the housing sector and establish a new Decent Homes Standard, with proportionate levels of financial assistance for landlords to support expanded home improvement programmes.
  • Provide additional funds to local authorities to increase capacity within their housing enforcement teams, and effectively ensure the enforcement of the Decent Homes Standard to the private rental sector.
  • Devolve housing-related funding streams, granting greater flexibility around their delivery to Mayoral Combined Authorities and local authorities.

The NHC will be providing a full on-the-day briefing covering all announcements made related to housing, planning and rebalancing which will be in your inbox shortly after the Chancellor makes his speech.

New executive director joins the NHC at crucial time for housing in the North

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Patrick Murray – Executive Director (Policy & Public Affairs), NHC

We’re pleased to welcome new Executive Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Patrick Murray.

Patrick joins the NHC from Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities where he most recently worked on the Public Bodies Review of Homes England. He previously worked on key housing policy areas in the Department including the Affordable Homes Programme. He has a broad range of leadership experience across the public and third sector. He has also worked for the Department of Health and Social Care and in the housing sector, and local Government where he was the Cabinet Member for Housing at a local authority.

He joins at a crucial time, with a general election fast approaching, and work on the NHC’s next corporate plan due to start soon.

Executive Director of Policy and Public Affairs Patrick Murray said:

“I’m delighted to join the fantastic team at the NHC. The Consortium has a great track record of supporting members to collaborate and influence on key priorities such as developing ways to meet the Net Zero challenge and making sure housing is at the heart of the Levelling Up agenda.

“I’m keen to build upon and take forward this work. This year will likely see a critical general election for housing and the North. This presents an enormous opportunity for the housing sector, and the communities we exist to serve. I am determined we grasp that opportunity with both hands.”

Northern Housing Consortium Chief Executive Tracy Harrison said:

“We’re pleased to welcome Patrick. He brings a wealth of experience and ideas and seemed the perfect fit with our values. He’s committed to working with colleagues, members and stakeholders to make a positive difference. With a general election fast approaching, he’ll play a big part in making sure housing and communities in the north are high up on the agenda of the new government.”