A digital future in housing

A digital future in housing

Towards the end of March last year, we could never have predicted how quickly the country – and even the world – would come to rely on digital technology.  Nor could we have guessed how successfully social landlords would adopt new digital solutions to continue delivering their services. 

The pandemic and digital saturation

Gradually learning over time, and because of the increased need during the COVID-19 pandemic, residents have become ever more digitally fluent. It has become pretty normal to order your drinks at the pub via a QR code or join gym classes with the likes of Joe Wicks via YouTube.

Through our work with the police and other critical services such as the Campaign Against Living Miserably (the leading suicide prevention charity), we are witnessing what UK housing tenants are experiencing: digital is permeating every aspect of our lives, including the most vital services – not just the everyday.

And, within this context, we must remember that tenants are comparing their social landlord to the other services in their lives, not just to other social landlords.

As we emerge from the pandemic, few conversations about resident experience can forgo mentioning the recent Social Housing White Paper. Its direction was clear: landlords should give tenants the best customer service of the private sector, and tenants should have their voice heard.

Although the digital divide has been exacerbated in some cases, for the majority, digital solutions are proving to be an excellent way of enhancing social landlords' services.

With this backdrop, the impetus to drive forward digital transformation journeys has never been greater for housing associations and other RSLs. And given our collective experience of recent months, landlords will find themselves pushing at an already open door.

Learning about chatbots from the experience of other social landlords

Futr is excited to be working with a range of social landlords – both in the latter stages and earliest days of their digital transformation journeys – as they press ahead, determined to maintain the momentum of digital adoption that the pandemic catapulted us into.

We are looking forward to sharing lessons about using chatbot technology from our existing housing clients CIH's upcoming Housing Management Summit. The talk will share existing housing clients' experience of growing the digital choice available to their residents through this new approach to tenant engagement.

By complementing traditional communications channels such as the telephone, our housing clients' conversational chatbots have enabled them to answer residents' questions immediately, 24/7, and in any language.

Futr's analytics dashboards are evidencing the success of this element of the transformation journey – from digital inclusion to improving customer experience and reducing contact centre burden.

For our housing clients, a third of tenant questions are asked – and answered immediately – outside of core business hours. This is usually in at least eight languages, including Polish and Bengali, and other Eastern European and South Asian languages.

We can't wait to share practical advice from our clients and our own stories of how social landlords are already using this new approach.

We are thrilled to be sponsoring this year's Housing Management Summit as the sector emerges from the pandemic and begins to settle into a new normal.

And, for a bit of fun, why not pop by Futr's digital booth during the Housing Management Summit to be in with a chance of winning a £50 Love2Shop voucher?

Simply draw Futr's logo on our digital booth whiteboard. The best drawing wins!