How Good Data Management Improves the Resident Experience
A recent report from the Housing Ombudsman found that poor information management prevented many landlords from effectively handling resident complaints.?
In this newsletter, I look at why good data management is critical for landlords, why many fall short of achieving it, and how an exciting new development at EVO might help.
Why is Data Management Important For Landlords?
There are two main reasons why landlords need to get their data collection and recording right.?
The first is because they are now legally obliged. Under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, all social housing landlords are now required to publish data on a series of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).
These cover the following broad categories:
Landlords need to draw some of these figures from tenant perception surveys, while others come from their own records. However, to report either of these accurately, landlords need to have effective data collection and management systems.
Poor Data Undermines Quality of Life For Residents
Meeting regulations is one reason to ensure good data management. But the other, more important reason is that it allows them to carry out effective repairs and maintenance on their properties. This means they can provide good-quality accommodation to their residents.??
The problem is that, in a lot of cases, this isn’t happening.
A report published last year by the Housing Ombudsman described poor information management as a recurring theme for landlords.?
The research spoke to complaint handlers at housing associations. 88% of respondents said that poor information undermined their ability to address resident repair complaints.?
The report also stated that poor records or information management were pivotal in two-thirds of the Ombudsman’s maladministration cases.?
The Ombudsman also provides multiple case studies where a lack of data or poor information management has led to repairs not being carried out.?
For example, one resident complained that damage to her exterior doors was causing a draft, water ingress, and vermin. The resident had to keep their heating on constantly and this issue was affecting their finances and mental health.?
First, the landlord accidentally closed the job. Six months later, the resident complained to the landlord who claimed he already tried to carry out the works three times but had not been granted access.
The resident disputed this as there was no evidence. The landlord admitted “that it was having difficulty obtaining the case history because the staff involved had left and the details were not on a central database.”
Eventually, the landlord agreed to send an operative to the resident’s home. The resident said that they would not be in after 5 pm. When the operative turned up after 5 pm the landlord recorded the appointment as “no access”.?
Needless to say, the Ombudsman ordered the landlord to apologise to the resident and pay compensation.?
The report includes many more examples like this where residents have been let down because their landlord doesn’t adequately record, share and provide access to data.
What’s going wrong with data management?
The Housing Ombudsman report also reveals what is going wrong from the complaint handler’s perspective.??
The biggest issue by far was that housing associations operated multiple databases that did not synchronise, in other words, data was siloed.
In some cases, multiple systems were being used for the same purpose. This was usually because of mergers.?
Other issues included:
I believe the root of the problem is scale. Large housing associations often have multiple data systems being managed by different departments, with hundreds of staff updating them inconsistently. This makes the data less reliable and creates holes in the data.?
Those landlords that set out to improve information management by harmonising these databases are quickly overwhelmed by the complexity of the challenge.??
A Single Joined Up Solution
Many landlords try to connect their existing databases or tack some sort of data management system onto their websites.?
The problem with these approaches is that they simply do not work - the first is too complicated to fix and the second leaves gaps where information could be lost.?
What’s required is consistency, automation and rules.
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? Consistency: Have one central system for all your repairs and maintenance data that records data from across the organisation in the same format.
? Automation: Carrying out simple tasks automatically to get things moving - instead of waiting for someone to action them. For example, if a resident requests a repair, then automatically assign it to a tradesperson and send the resident options for time slots. Then, automatically add the job to everyone’s calendars.
? Rules: Set parameters in your system to ensure things are done correctly. For example, don’t allow a job to be marked as completed until someone has signed it off and the resident is satisfied.?
These have been our guiding principles at EVO. We provide an end-to-end digital platform that fully manages your repairs and maintenance.?
Our system manages your data efficiently, helping you to accurately track jobs, provide property and job history to whoever needs it, report KPIs and provide high-quality housing to your residents.???
Once you compile enough data, our system can also spot trends and predict issues. For example, you can identify common failures and then schedule routine maintenance or replacements to deal with them before they become a bigger problem.
This makes it easier to plan budgets and manage resources. It also keeps residents happy, knowing their landlord is acting proactively.
Two years ago, our CEO, Steven Rae, wrote a newsletter highlighting the importance of the tenant experience.
This month, Steve examines the current state of the tenant experience in the UK and the potential impact of new policies from the Labour government.
Read below and let us know what you think in the comments.
Data Developments
We’re working on a new data dashboard to give our users an overview of critical repair and maintenance data.
Here is some of the information it gives you at a glance:?
?? First-time fix rate
?? Total jobs
?? Completed jobs
?? Number of emergencies
You can view this information per month over a period to see if the overall trend is improving.?
?? Pending jobs
?? Open jobs
These are displayed as pie charts, showing the percentage of jobs with different statuses. For example, you’ll see how many jobs are on hold, how many are awaiting confirmation from tradespeople, etc.
?? App adoption: A simple pie chart showing how many residents currently use the app.?
?? Missed appointments: This view allows you to see what percentage of appointments have been missed and the main reasons why - for example, the tradesperson was denied access or not given keys.??
?? Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR): A chart shows you which properties are compliant and non-compliant (including those that have expired).?
?? Gas Safety Certificate: The same fields but this time for gas safety.
Clicking the electrical and gas safety charts will take you to a database where you can filter related information.
?? Resident satisfaction
The charts on the dashboard allow the user to click through to see all of the underlying data that relates to that particular % or piece of the pie chart. This allows for super fast data analysis and allows customers more time to react to the information rather than spending hours hunting for it.
We’re also excited about the impact this will have on their residents. Better data for the landlords should mean that repairs and maintenance issues are dealt with more expediently and more things are resolved first time.?
Let me know what you think
I’d love to hear from others in the industry about this. What do you think are the challenges landlords face regarding data management? What is the best way to overcome them? Are there any KPIs you’d like to see added to our dashboard?
Leave me a comment below. If you want to stay up-to-date with the latest news from EVO or the housing sector, sign up for our email newsletter or subscribe to our Social Evolution updates.?
Great advice