In the UK alone, the number of long-term vacant homes has risen by over 30,000 in the last 5 years. Although the worldwide pandemic has contributed to this statistic, it is continuing to grow at a staggering rate despite the recent slowdown in cases. While not apparent at first sight, the repercussions of this statistic are significant. From a societal standpoint, consequences range from an increased frequency in crime to decreased tax revenue and overall quality of public services.
From a business standpoint, especially for those in the social housing sector, vacant properties often contribute to lowered property values, meaning less profit for owners. This is because businesses owners in the social housing sector operate on a lower margin of profit than other industries. Aside from the traditional risks that are present in this sector, such as property upkeep or cash flow shortages, affordable housing—as the name suggests—is not very expensive and does not allow for a high profit to be made. Therefore, vacant houses that cause overall property values to decline are extremely important to consider for social housing owners as even the smallest of changes in property values could lead to the downfall of your business. One tool that has been used to resolve this issue is data analytics, and specifically the use of strategies such as data integration and the omni-channel approach.
Data Integration
One of the central causes of empty properties for social housing is, simply put, a lack of coordination among management. When data for clients or properties are divided into separate silos with limited sharing capabilities, indicators of possible housing vacancies or other risks become more difficult to detect. For instance, if you were try creating a customer profile for a particular tenant at risk of eviction, you would need to log in on several accounts, access data from multiple applications, copy and store the data in another location, reformat the data into a cohesive manner, and scan it for errors before even starting the actual analysis process. In fact, it may be the case that before the tenant can even be aided with the issue, he or she may already have been affected. This time-consuming procedure would need to be done over and over for each new customer or issue that arises, and the overall quality of your services would decline tremendously. In order to address this issue, the strategy known as data integration can be implemented.
Data integration is the process by which data located in separated silos are brought together in one centralised location. By doing this, access to what was once difficult-to-reach data is enabled and the actual analysis process can be completed much quicker. Not to mention, data integration helps to save digital storage, improve data integrity and security, and empower employees from all branches to work towards a unified goal. Updates in client information no longer need to be distributed manually via emails or phone calls as all employees, regardless of department, will be able to view the data. Code violations, police visits, tax assessment, criminal history, and other important aspects of a customer’s profile can be viewed simultaneously, and correlations between the factors that lead to potential housing vacancies can be examined. By analysing such relations, the risk of empty properties in the future will be mitigated and the longevity of your business will be promoted.
Omni-channel Approach
Data, obviously, is not a resource that is automatically accumulated into a business’s digital storage site. It needs to be collected, either via AI or manually from your clients’ interactions with your services. However, what many business owners tend to neglect is the fact that clients utilize a wide range of devices and applications to interact with your business. Some of these include: wearable gadgets, websites, and smartphones. The omni-channel approach, similar to the data integration process, essentially consolidates multiple communication channels into a single unified platform. This allows you to view inventory across all channels in a clear and cohesive manner, preventing you from receiving conflicting information from tenants and helping to boost overall customer satisfaction rates.
The following social housing example can be looked at to showcase the effectiveness of this approach: one of your tenants is concerned about a faulty light switch in the hallway leading to his home. He uses his landlord's company website to file a complaint regarding the light switch. He discusses the issue with a chat agent for several minutes, and the agent asks him various questions. Through the use of the omni-channel approach, the chat agent updates the company on the tenant’s issue. Unable to resolve the issue, the agent chooses to see an employee in person. The employee, already aware of the issue due to the unified communications channel, further discusses the issue with the tenant without repeating any of the chat agent’s questions. Able to arrive at a solution, the issue is resolved, and the tenant’s property is boosted in overall value, preventing the possibility of a vacancy.
Conclusion
While this blog does focus on social housing and the prevention of vacancies, data integration and the omni-channel approach are strategies that you can apply to a wide range of organizations. Nevertheless, it is still important to remember that housing shortages are not a fading problem and will continue to plague society for years to come. Although the two strategies described above are not certain to resolve this issue, with the correct application and ample amount of effort, they are sure to make some form of positive impact.
About the author: Mark Roychowdhury is a Copywriter Intern at ei² niche consulting for #data #insights #performance www.eisquare.co.uk