Unfortunately, poor living conditions within social housing don’t come as a surprise to the public. The often-inhumane conditions many tenants are living in are often reported on in the news which regularly surround a heart-breaking – and mostly preventable – tragedy.
Reports of damp, mould, pest infestations, and more frequent the regional and national papers, and the government and housing regulators have begun to take action and consider proper penalties to force social housing providers to change. Around 8,000 homes in England have the “most serious” damp and mould problems – failing the Decent Homes Standard – most of which are within local authorities rather than private providers. A further 40,000-80,000 social homes have “serious” damp and mould problems, and between 120,000 and 160,000 have “notable” damp and mould.
The UK Government has now introduced amendments to the Social Housing Regulation Bill to include ‘Awaab’s Law’, giving strict timeframes for landlords to fix any reported health hazards following the death of Awaab Ishak. The amendments will drive much needed change in the sector and hold landlords to account for the quality of service and maintenance that they provide to their tenants.
Housing associations are doing what they can to maintain properties and provide a good customer experience to their tenants, but low budgets and poor resources mean its not always as easy as it may seem from the outside.
That’s where Crimson can help.
Crimson can leverage the Microsoft stack to aid the reporting of damp and mould, streamline the maintenance process, and provide effective and on-the-go inspection software to shorten the damp and mould process - providing the level of customer experience that tenants deserve.
With an in-house developed Damp and Mould Process, Crimson helps housing associations transform the way they manage damp and mould complaints. Microsoft Power Platform’s Power Pages allows housing providers to create secure, low-code websites allowing tenants to report damp and mould quickly and easily. This self-service directly integrates with the tenants Dynamics 365 record, so anyone who views the tenant or property record can easily see there is an issue with damp and mould. With SLAs in place, the housing association then has a time limit to get this sorted and keep on top of the issue. A Canvas App is then used by maintenance staff to log inspection data, including adding photos, allowing them to report back and update the Dynamics 365 record whilst on-the-go.
This bespoke approach to damp and mould issues ensures all of the information necessary is logged, and the deadlines put in place by both the housing association and government regulations are met. All data is stored remotely, and in one place, so all housing association staff members are on the same page. The rounded approach ensures tenants receive the highest level of care possible, and the streamlined process helps to move the maintenance along quicker.
See the Damp and Mould Process in action. Sign up to the next Housing Breakfast webinar.
