Another partner In Crime

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or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy

The new megalith newcomer in UK & Ireland Social Housing, MRI, grew bigger still today (5th Aug 2020), as it snapped up ‘Housing Partners’.

You may use a Housing Partners product, if you have Homelessness to deal with in England & Wales (Housing Jigsaw), Anti-social behaviour not dealt with in your Housing Management System (Streetwise), track and tracing of tenant debt (TAIM), or make use of Homeswapper.

The statement on the Housing Partners website went as follows:

“We are proud to welcome Housing Partners to the MRI family, adding an exciting and innovative range of digital solutions to our powerful and interoperable MRI Living residential portfolio,” said Patrick Ghilani, Chief Executive Officer of MRI Software. “This acquisition expands MRI’s ability to facilitate the delivery of front-line services, helping social housing providers bring increased flexibility, mobility, safety and security to communities – building on our commitment to improving the lives and experiences of social housing tenants through the power of technology.”

I am loving the across the pond use of English, “Interoperable MRI Living Residential Portfolio”. Some should think of turning that into an acronym, it being a bit of a mouthful.

Proof of the pudding in the use of the housing systems from the usual suspects is generally level and quality of integration. This is a deceptively tricky nut to crack, particularly when the number of original sourced ‘Jigsaw’ pieces multiply. Get that wrong and an upgrade or change to one piece can create a nightmare of testing required.

A few years back, I remember sitting in a presentation at a Housing Technology conference, where a supplier who had bought up about 5 housing products, from multiple sources, expected to have them all linked together, integrated in just 9 months. With my colleague in the next seat, we both agreed they would struggle to even get them looking similar with colour-scheme and branding, in 9 months.

So, maybe it will be some time I expect, before the ‘I’ in ‘IMLRP’, can be swapped to ‘Integrated’ (or even ‘TIMLRP’ for ‘truly integrated’.

It will be interesting if the MRI shopping spree will continue and who else might be worth adding to this smorgasbord of mixed solutions. There is a danger of the mix becoming a little like 'The Curates Egg', with too random a mix.  

Of course too, with the background of the traditional HMS providers rushing to move to SaaS and true browser GUI delivery and the clear alternative of MS Dynamics CRM or Salesforce, providing whatever RSLs want, we are in interesting times. Lets see who are the winners and losers here, although its clear that supplier deep pockets may be needed in the next few years, just to pretty much stand still. 

Related Post: Have you hit rock bottom with any of your software  suppliers?

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Ocean Alley – Partner In Crime.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.

File Under: #HomesForBritain,#HousingDAY,#InternetOfTenants,#Shout,#UKHousing, 07854655009, 1st Touch,1stTouch,360,365Agile,3squared,4Js, ACL,ALMO,AMS,AX,Aareon,Abritas,Academy,Accuserv,Accuserve,Active Housing,ActiveH,ActiveHousing,Acutence,Advanced,Agile,Agile365,AirWatch,Alignment,Allpay,Amazon Web Services,Anite,Apex,App,ArchHouse,Archouse,Asprey e-state pro,Asset Management,Associates,Aurora,Average IT Costs,AWI SX Integration Toolkit,AWS, BI,BO,BPR,BancTec,BigChange,Blockwise,BluTek,Bluebox,Blueprint,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning,Business Process Review,Business social networking, CACI,Capita One Housing,CBL,CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,CHICS,CHR,CIH,CMS,COA,CORE,CPL,CRM,CRM2013,CRS,CTI,CTX,Cadcorp,Capita,CapitaOne,Capita One,Capital Management,Cashflow,Castle,Castleton,Castleton Technology,Cedar Open Accounts,Cerrus,Change,Charges,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, Citrix,Civica,Civica CTX,Civica Cx,Civica Genero,Civica Saffron,Clearview,Clik,Cloud Dialogs,CloudDialogs,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Commontime,Community Reward Services,Company,Competitive Dialogue process,Component Accounting,Consilium,Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Consultants,Contact Manager,Context,Contractor Systems,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,Crystal Reports,Customer Relationship Management,Cx, DRS,Deeplake,Designer Software,Development Systems,Director,Document,Documotive,Dynamic AI,DynamicAI,Dynamics 365, ECMK,EDM,EDRMS,ERP,ESRI,Elmhurst,Enghouse Interactive,England,English,EnterpriseBI,Estatecraft,Etive,Exhibition,Exponential-e, Facebook,Factorwise,Field Service management,Finance,Financial Systems,Financials,Footprint,Forms,Freezes,Fusion, Gas Tag,G-Cloud,GCloud,GDPR,GGP,GIS,GasTag,Genero,GeoSolveIT,Getting best from,GoTonySmith,Grasp,Grip,Group Apex, HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,HRA,Hardware,Hitachi Systems,Hitex,HomeMaster,Hometeam,HouSys,House,Housemark,Housemark survey,Housing,Housing Contact,Housing Group,Housing Insight,Housing Management,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Partners,Housing Portfolio Management System,Hub Asset Management,Homeswapper,Housing jigsaw,acquisitions, Housing Support Pro,HousingIT,HousingSupportPro,HyperOptic, IMS,IT,IT Budget,IT Training,ITIL,Impact Response,In,In4,In4Systems Promaster,InfoBoss,InHouse,InMotion,InMotion2015,InMotion2016,InfoBoss,Infoflow,Information,Information Technology,Information@Work components,Informix,Innovation, Informetis,Inphase,Inside Housing,Insight,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Invu,Ireland,Irish,itLab, Keyfax,Keylogic,Keypera,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera, Landlord,Ledgers,Linkedin,Liquid,Locality,Localz, M3,MAVIS,MD,MDM,MI,MIS,MIS-AMS,MISCS,MRI,MS Dynamics,MRI,MS Dynamics CRM2011,MWL,Management,Management Server,Manifest,Measuring,Mebus,Microsoft Dynamics 365,Microsoft dynamics GP 2013,Miracle,MobileIron,Mobysoft,Monopoly board images and pictures,Montal,Mr Void,MriEngage,MrVoid, NDL,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,NPS,NPS ASSIST,NPS 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. . . . . . . . . . .

The State Of Things

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @HousingITguy
or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy


As anyone who reads this blog knows, I work right across the UK, from England, into Wales, Scotland and Ireland. A continual problem is how do we know if our organisations are doing well? ‘Benchmarking’ is a well-used buzzword. Where should we look to benchmark and will it reflect reality? i.e.. compare ourselves to something similar and extract some useful insights.

I have done some work with a local organisation to me, Vantage, who host the ‘Performance Improvement Club’.  My work has involved greater efficiency in DLO teams, but clearly as readers of this blog will know, I have a long term geeky interest in better KPI’s and reporting.

On a chance conversation with Tony Bryan, Chief Executive of Vantage, at the 24Housing awards, it was mentioned their latest KPI stats from the benchmarking club were available. Improved performance can only be based on knowing what the norm is, what others are actually achieving. I am committed to better reporting, however creatively that can be achieved.

Its always good to know who’s part of the benchmarking club. In this case, its some of the leading landlord RSLs in our social housing sector. The Vantage club attracts a wide variety of significant large and medium landlords from across the UK. This means that a varied raft of statistics can be collated for some unique insights.

Firstly, who is involved in the Vantage benchmarking group? Well it’s a broad mix of English and Welsh landlords. Plenty of familiar names, many of which I have worked with over the years.

Some Vantage Improvement Club Members

When I read through the report, it gave me a warm feeling. There are clear insights in the data taken from 132 major RSL/RPs, distilled into clear information about our sector, which I recognise from the work I get involved with.

As a sector watcher myself, I feel it comprehensively covers all financial areas  I work with in improving systems and processes. I have provided a link to the full report at the end of the blog.



Despite the continual rollout of Universal Credit, a 4 year rent reduction, it’s clear we have a strong sector. As I have tweeted about a lot lately, recent noises from Westminster sound like socialhousing may be back on the agenda (and rightly so!). The political tide might yet be turning, as Tony Bryan mentions in his summary.


Let’s look at some of the headline figures:

• Turnover stable, only down by a very marginal 0.11% on a turnover of 16.69%
• The G15 group of London landlords still dominate turnover, 27% of all UK socialhousing
• £156m still being wasted in void property loss
• Employment costs down 6.6% on last year
• Operating surplus up (much greater in General needs housing)
• Financial performance operating costs (strangely greater in NE England.
• Routine operating costs, per unit (slightly lower)
• Operating costs (slightly falling by unit)
• Financial Health & Viability (Gearing generally increasing)
• Headline annual average social housing cost per unit £3,514

There are some striking regional variations. One case in point is voids, a key concern for landlords. The graph below shows how badly on average the North West performs, with a mixture of low average weekly rent and worst void loss %.

Void loss by English region

It would be interesting to research the penetration of modern void management systems, such as mobile and recharge recovery, in each region to consider if these innovations are contributing.

Another key area where improved systems should be making a positive effect is in control of costs per unit. Better controlled repair processes should be reducing waste due to wasted visits, unnecessary repairs and better appreciation of sustainability.

Headline Social Housing Cost per Unit

In the figures on the right, the number of capitalised components fell by over 16%, reflecting what I see with my clients. Again, the regional spread is interesting. The last area to mention is stock size and achieved housing cost per unit. There has been a lot of discussion recently following mergers, if bigger is better and can it be cheaper? The larger bubbles to the mid-far right in the graphic below, do suggest it. Seeing the data like this, it does suggest it’s the 15-35k groups/RSLs that may currently have most of the cost challenges.

Stock size vs Social Housing Cost per Unit

Vantage are certainly taking benchmarking to a new level.
Why not download the full 24 page 2017 report on this link

2017/18 version available here


For more information on the Vantage Performance Improvement Club, click here: YourVantage.co.uk 

Get in touch if I can add some insight to your data project, Integrated Housing or Finance system review or procurement.

Related Post: When you procure, bring all your team and users on the journey too! 

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Reverend and the makers - The State Of Things.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: 360,1stTouch,4Js. , 07854655009 ,365Agile," """" ",,#UKHousing,#HousingDAY, #HomesForBritain,#InternetOfTenants, #Shout,1st Touch,3squared,Accuserv,Acutence,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,AirWatch,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos, Asprey e-state pro,ActiveHousing,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,App,Associates,ACL,Abritas,AMS,AX,aspireview,Agile365, BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning, Business Process Review,Business social networking, Blockwise, Block wise,BI,BancTec,BluTek,Bluebox, Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Cx,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS , CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,Civica Genero,Contractor Systems,CORE,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,CRM,Crystal Reports,CTI,CTX,Customer Relationship Management,Cashflow, COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting, Community Reward Services, Consilium, Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context,CIH,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cadcorp,Cerrus Saturn,convergeOne,CACI,CPL, CRS Director, Deeplake,Development Systems,Accuserve,Document Management,Documotive,datasystems , Microsoft dynamics GP 2013, DynamicAI, Dynamic AI, ECMK,EDRMS,England, English,EnterpriseBI,ERP Systems,ERP,Elmhurst,Estatecraft,EDM,ESRI,Exponential-e, Finance, Financial Systems, Financials, Factorwise,Facebook ,Footprint,Fusion, Getting best from,gotonysmith, Grasp,Grip,GeoSolveIT,GIS,GGP,Genero,GCloud,G-Cloud,HouSys,Housing software,HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,Housemark survey,Housing Blueprint,Housemark, HRA,housingtITguy,Housing Support Pro,HousingSupportPro,Housing Options,Hometeam, Housing Group,hotpixuk, HousingIT,hotpix,Hardware,Hitex,Housing Contact Company,housing predictive analytics, Impact Response,iPayPro,implementations,iRobot,In House,InHouse,In4,InMotion, InMotion2016, InMotion2015, InMotion2016 , Exhibition, conference,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Management 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tender,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Oracle,Orchard,Optitime DRS,Outsource and outsourcing,OpenContractor,ORS,OneServe, PIMMS Data Systems, Paloma,performance management systems,PfH, Pick,PIMMS,pimms4communities, Planned maintenance,People Value,Plus, Peoplevalue, PM,Progress,Promaster,Proval,Pyramid,PRINCE2,prince,Pamwin,PlanForm, Propoints, Pro-Points,predictive analytics for housing, QL,QLX,Quiss,Qlikview, QueryView,Queryview reporting,Registered Providers,Registered Social Landlord,Rent Increase Freezes,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,ROCC,RobotAutomation,Rave Technologies (India) PVT Limited, Rocket,RPs,RSL,Reality,ReAct,reidmark,RM865, Saffron,SAP,Scots, "Social Housing IT",Social Housing ICT, Scottish,Scenario, Scotland,SDM,sector,TonySmithHou,Safron,Server Virtualisation,servicing, Servitor,Sharepoint, Simdel,Simdell,SimPro,Sim Pro,Slash and Burn,Social Media,Software,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting Services,SQL reporting services,SQL Server,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic Asset 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Hard Cash

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @HousingITguy or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy



I don’t know if you spotted it, (you won’t at the writing of this blog find it on Civica’s news section of their website), but last week (Wed' 3rd May 2017) it was announced that Banks are readying around £450m of debt financing to back a sale of Civica.

Civica have some penetration within social housing, via various mainly legacy housing systems, Keystone asset management, Servitor contractor module and the recent acquisition of common housing register platform Abritas. Of course they are into a lot of other local authority & public sector areas, such as Government & National Security, Local & Regional Government, Public Safety, Social Housing, Health & Care, Education, Travel & Transport, Commercial & Utilities, Telecoms, Financial & Legal.

They moved from 3i in 2013 to Omers Private Equity, with £255m of leveraged loans.

Social housing customers will be interested, particularly as the new Cx Housing Software product is at last being seriously rolled out. The large list of RSLs & RP’s on the sold-to list will be eager to see if additional resources can be leveraged to move more sites live, much more quickly.

These are interesting times with Cx being a very recently developed HTML5 delivered product, which could be a good potential future proofed option, compared with where some of its peers are at currently, with either systems still stuck fully or partially in old technologies or requiring a ‘skin over the top’ to make them presentable. I would not be so rude as to mention them here by name 8-) 

The list of solid ‘future-proofed’ systems for housing out there, seems to be reducing. It would be interesting to author a white paper or similar to research where it all seems to be going. Feel free to share any thoughts on that, via the comments area below or on direct message.

Read the full chapter and verse on the Reuters site

July 2017 Update- Civica Sold to Partners Private Equity Group for £1.06b

Related Post: Void recharges, something to think seriously about 

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Miracle Of Sound - Hard Cash.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
File Under: 360,1stTouch,4Js. , 07854655009 ,365Agile," """" ",,#UKHousing,#HousingDAY, #HomesForBritain,#InternetOfTenants, #Shout,1st Touch,3squared,Accuserv,Acutence,Aareon,Academy,ActiveH,AirWatch,Alignment,ALMO,Anite,Apex,ArchHouse,Archouse,asbestos, Asprey e-state pro,ActiveHousing,Asset Management,Aurora,Average IT Costs,App,Associates,ACL,Abritas,AMS,AX,aspireview,Agile365, BO,BPR,Browser Applications,Business Objects,Business Planning, Business Process Review,Business social networking, Blockwise, Block wise,BI,BancTec,BluTek,Bluebox, Castle,CBL,Cedar Open Accounts,Cx,Change,Cheaper Housing IT,Chics, CHR,Citrix,Civica,Clearview,CMS , CCS IT Keystone CCSIT,Civica Genero,Contractor Systems,CORE,CorVu,Cost Reductions,Covalent,CRM,Crystal Reports,CTI,CTX,Customer Relationship Management,Cashflow, COA,Coactiva,Codeman,Comino,Competitive Dialogue process,complex IT procurements,Component Accounting, Community Reward Services, Consilium, Consolidation, Consultancy,Consultant,Contact Manager,Context,CIH,Chartered Institute Of Housing,Cadcorp,Cerrus Saturn,convergeOne,CACI,CPL, CRS Director, Deeplake,Development Systems,Accuserve,Document Management,Documotive,datasystems , Microsoft dynamics GP 2013, DynamicAI, Dynamic AI, ECMK,EDRMS,England, English,EnterpriseBI,ERP Systems,ERP,Elmhurst,Estatecraft,EDM,ESRI,Exponential-e, Finance, Financial Systems, Financials, Factorwise,Facebook ,Footprint,Fusion, Getting best from,gotonysmith, Grasp,Grip,GeoSolveIT,GIS,GGP,Genero,GCloud,G-Cloud,HouSys,Housing software,HFI (Housing Financials interface),HG,Housemark survey,Housing Blueprint,Housemark, HRA,housingtITguy,Housing Support Pro,HousingSupportPro,Housing Options,Hometeam, Housing Group,hotpixuk, HousingIT,hotpix,Hardware,Hitex,Housing Contact Company,Impact Response,iPayPro,implementations,iRobot,In House,InHouse,In4,InMotion, InMotion2016, InMotion2015, InMotion2016 , Exhibition, conference,Housing Management Consultant,Housing Management Consultants, Infoflow,Information Technology,Informix,inHouse,in-house workforce,Information@Work components, Innovation,Inside Housing,Internet Portal,Internetalia,Information Management Server,IMS, Invu,Ireland,Irish,Inphase , IT Budget,IT Training,iWorld, Innovation Group Apex,ITIL, In4Systems Promaster,IT,Insight, iSupport,iSupportPro, Keylogic,Keystone,Kirona,Kypera,Keypera Hometeam,Keyfax,Ledgers,Linkedin,Locality,Liquid Voice,MD ,Mr Void , MrVoid, Measuring Change,Mebus,Miracle,MISCS,mDesign,mobile functionality,mobile platform,Monopoly board images and pictures, Montal,MS Dynamics,MS Dynamics CRM2011,Miracle Software,MDM,Management,CRM2013,Reporting,MI,M3,MIS,MIS-AMS,Mobysoft, Northgate Codeman,Neighbourhoods and Communities,NPS,NPS Housing,NPS CRM,NPS Job Manager Mobile, Northgate,Notice,NROSH,NINTEX,NINTEX workflow,Natural Forms,Nintexworkflow,NPS ASSIST, OA,OGC Buying Solutions,Ohms,OJEU Limits,OmFax,Omniledger,Open source software,open tender,OpenHousing,Opti-time,Oracle,Orchard,Optitime DRS,Outsource and outsourcing,OpenContractor,ORS,OneServe, PIMMS Data Systems, Paloma,performance management systems,PfH, Pick,PIMMS,pimms4communities, Planned maintenance,People Value,Plus, Peoplevalue, PM,Progress,Promaster,Proval,Pyramid,PRINCE2,prince,Pamwin,PlanForm, Propoints, Pro-Points QL,QLX,Quiss,Qlikview, QueryView,Queryview reporting,Registered Providers,Registered Social Landlord,Rent Increase Freezes,Repairfinder,Reporting,Reports,ROCC,RobotAutomation,Rave Technologies (India) PVT Limited, Rocket,RPs,RSL,Reality,ReAct,reidmark,RM865, Saffron,SAP,Scots, "Social Housing IT",Social Housing ICT, Scottish,Scenario, Scotland,SDM,sector,TonySmithHou,Safron,Server Virtualisation,servicing, Servitor,Sharepoint, Simdel,Simdell,SimPro,Sim Pro,Slash and Burn,Social Media,Software,SQL Open Housing,SQL Reporting Services,SQL reporting services,SQL Server,Star rating,Stores and Stock,Strategic Asset Management,Sunguard ,Surveys,Sx3,System alignment,Symatrix Human Capital Management, TonySmithHousing, Systemwise,SM,Sequoa,Serros,SP,Scout,score,Swordfish,Serengeti,SOTI,southview,Sunguard,Service Charges,Spotlight Service, Spotlightservice, SunAccounts, Template,Task,Terminal Services, tonys , tonysm , tonysmi , tonysmith, tonysmitht, gotonysmith, tableau Business Dashboards, tonysmithth, tonysmiththa, tonysmiththat, tonysmiththath, tonysmiththatho, tonysmiththathou, tonysmiththathous, tonysmiththathousi, tonysmiththathousin, tonysmiththathousing,Tony Smith That,Tony Smith That Housing IT Guy,TonySmith that housing IT, guy,tonysmiththathousing, tonysmiththathousinguy,tony smith housing guy,sharepoint, share point, SHBVN, Three Star,Today,Total repairs,Tribal,Twitter,U2, tonysmith , tonysmiththat , thathousing , thathousingIT , thathousingITguy, TED,Tagish Casework,TP Tracker,Telecetera,Tagra,Trace, Totalmobile, Total Mobile, UniClass Enterprise,Unidata,Universal Housing,Universalcredit, universal credit, universal credits,UC,Universe,Unrest, UK, United Kingdom ,Ukhousing,UK Housing, Van Stock,Voice and data,Vantage Sentinel,verse one,verseone,vWork,Version One,Visualmetrics,Voluntas, Wales,Welsh,Windows Server,Workflow and tasking,Wheatley,Works Connect,worksConnect, Xmbrace,XML ,XenApp,Xen App ..

Irish Blood, English Heart

If you do the Twitter thing, follow me at @HousingITguy
or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy




PayTostay has been all over the news for SocialHousing the last few months. This all relates to anyone in social housing who earns over a specified amount, to pay a revised higher rent, based on ability to pay. This is very new in the UK, and quite polarising. There are many people outraged & many pleased that taxpayer subsidy of social housing may be tapered off.

For me, the challenge is where a taper starts, what can be considered a 'substantial' income and will this empower people to better themselves and families in the long term. Personally, I would like to see people in social housing having better opportunities and being encouraged to work harder to build a better life and benefit from it all.

A key part of the Housing & Planning Act 2016, Pay to Stay comes into effect in April 2017.
Compulsory for English local authorities and ALMOs and voluntary for RSLs, it requires tenancies
with a taxable income above £31k (£40k in London) to pay a higher rent.

It's not been mentioned, but this approach is very similar to how social housing has worked for many years in the Irish Republic. I have encountered it when working with housing management systems in Southern Ireland, where there are many small social housing landlords, doing a fantastic job.

Rents are generally set in Eire by local authority and differential rents revolves around calculating rent payable, based on the total amount of family income. This is however generally based on most of the build cost, provided as grant to start with. A marked difference with what is being proposed in the UK.

If your income is low, rent payments will reflect this and will be low. If your income increases so will your rent payment.  The income of all household members is considered and rent calculations are adjusted accordingly. If your income or the income of anyone in your household changes, you must inform the local authority and rent will be adjusted upwards or downwards in accordance to the change.  In Ireland each local authority administers its own scheme, reflecting local needs, costs etc.

From an IT viewpoint, pretty much all the usual suspects for housing management systems, have customers in Southern Ireland and already have adapted systems to support this way of working. Obviously, UK style Housing Benefit is of no relevance in the Emerald Isle, unless homes are managed, both sides of the border. A few RP's do operate like this.

This is great news for RSLs over in the UK, as it should be a smooth transition to implement any policy arising. Of course, if implemented, Pay2Stay will be a statutory requirement  and it should be delivered free, if your contract stipulates this. Providing UK DCLG can get its stuff together, suppliers should be able to tackle this very quickly.

I would predict that some switched on suppliers will be creating one or more cloud based apps or sites, in order to support collection of income capture for landlord use. It would be great to collect valid data and confirm eligibility online. Watch this space.

On if P2S is fair, well hopefully the consultation and if its mandatory to apply, will show that. Also what the tapering will look like. Let's see what it all looks like, when it comes out of the Westminster sausage machine.

Read the UK proposal on "Pay To Stay" here - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/469797/Pay_to_Stay_consultation_doc.pdf

     Catch the blog monthly archive at https://archive.org/details/@housingitguy

Related Post: Bored of #SocialHousing or maybe slightly depressed? Have a meeting... 

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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.


Morrissey - Irish Blood, English Heart.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here
Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
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Do It Yourself

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Last week I was reading the July 2017 edition of Housing Technology magazine.

Interestingly it had articles that extolled the go-live virtues of HMS packaged solutions (4 supplier success stories) and also big ERP (1) at Sanctuary Housing. Strangely, on page four there was also a success story, from a 12,000 home landlord who had gone it alone, DIY just like the old days, how we used to do it.

It was very interesting to read Lawrence Gardner’s article and to hear about the journey he has taken the Wrekin on, for the last five years. I am sure it can feel quite good to have broken free from the shackles of your software suppliers and can dedicate resource to the specific issues being encountered, rather than waiting for ‘Roadmap Enhancements’ to be delivered. Lawrence did not outline what software tools, over just five years it had been developed in, with just 11.5 man years. Clearly Telford rather than Hanoi or Bangalore, is where certain key HMS software providers, should be cutting their code.

My experience of developing a rich HMS solution at my old shop, between 2004-2008, was about 26 professional developers beavering away for about 4 years. That’s 104 person years in Microsoft VB6 technology. We might assume the Wrekin have not developed this in .net. Few clues here then, for any of the UK’s 300+ RSLs/RPs, to pick over, to replicate this themselves. The Wrekin have got previous form on the product front however, if anyone remembers the Hand-e-work solution. Possibly speculating, ‘Hand-e-Housing’ may be released in the coming months. Watch this space.

However, I have had lots of chats over the years with many clients, who have wanted to consider building a HMS from scratch. They often ask, “How difficult can it be?”, “It’s just people and properties isn’t it?”. I have also had that conversation with one client who had their own in-house housing system up until about 7 years ago and after having a (mainstream HMS) package for a while, were considering building one again.

I asked, “Why did you abandon your last in-house HMS then?”. The reply was that it fell behind with needs of the housing team, regulator, returns/KPIs and was poorly documented, so vulnerable to key staff leaving/retiring too. They clearly did not have 104 person years to chuck at it either, so it would have been a pretty basic solution, at best. Understandably, a (sensible) decision was made to select another packaged HMS.

There are alternatives out there as well as DIY, MS Dynamics CRM, ERP from a number of sources, as well as the usual packaged HMS solutions. Each come with their own risks, costs and anticipated richness of functionality. That latter deliverable is perhaps easier to evaluate with a package solution, less so on a project involving much faith and trust, based on high hopes and often extravagant sales promises.

When you are using an external software supplier, at least (as some RSLs & Housing Groups) are finding, you can always dig out the contract and with some assistance, take them to/threaten a trip to court for damages. Bear in mind it would be very hard to do that with your own ICT team, if they didn’t manage such a good job of the deliverables, as the Wrekin.

Related Post: Dont leave documenting your in-house ICT solutions, it soon could be too late!  

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

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Gloria Gaynor - Do It Yourself.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
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Apple Tree

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Why-aye, interesting news for the North East this morning, as MRI Real Estate Software ‘broadens capabilities’ an acquisition of Orchard Information Systems.

Veterans of social housing asset management, might remember Qube, quite a ‘family atmosphere’ outfit in the day and also RAM (which many RSLs have purchased for Component Accounting), all part of this big US software group.

While rumours have done the rounds for a decade (like a few other UK standalone social housing software houses), that the for-sale signs were up, this is an interesting development. Orchard may well see a large injection of cash, similar to when NEC acquired Northgate recently. Alternatively, some consolidation, particularly around asset management solutions, may be on the cards. I would certainly consider some of the latter myself, even if investment was forthcoming. Many peers in this tight market are now scrambling to move to SaaS/browser delivery, or successfully implement new adopters. Slow movers stuck on traditional client-server models, will soon not be long for this world I fear.

MRI certainly have deep pockets and it will be interesting if some of it will be coming to ‘toon soon, to revive Orchard’s Progress based integrated housing solution and successfully move it to the SaaS space. Orchard have had a few false starts and there is a risk that once royal customers, may find they need/want to go to market sooner than development roadmaps permit. I have encountered a few sites where often perfectly happy housing teams, have been corralled to OJEU, due to having deemed to have hung on to a solution too long.

It’s a fair point, as RPI/CPI accumulates, like compound interest on annual maintenance, these organisations can be effectively re-purchasing the solution, very 2-3 years or so. Not brilliant value for money. Orchards relatively static and broadly content customer base, might well be the biggest attraction to MRI. It will be interesting what differences Orchard customers will experience going forward. I will keep an eye on this one (from my lock-down household  )

Full press release here

***************** 15/04/2020 *** U P D A T E ********************************
MRI Software Enters Agreement to Acquire Castleton Technology PLC
**********************************************************************************

Related Post: Covid-19, is it changing the way your organisation measures staff contribution and throughput?
 

Catch the blog monthly archive at https://soundcloud.com/housingitguy/

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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Wolfmother – Apple Tree.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.
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. . . . . . . . . . .

Cutt Off

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Barely a month after German social housing software provider Aareon is sold off, another significant supplier to the sector and local councils, changing hands. At least a couple of customers contacted me and said they were dismayed at seemingly not even being informed of the planned sale.

This week Capita announced that they will be shedding ‘Capita One’, the home of OpenContractor, OneHousing, Education management solutions and ex-IBS OpenHousing. (not Irritable Bowel Syndrome, for latecomers to the sector, however it could at times create nearly similar effects!). For £207m, MRI the US Real Estate Asset Management specialist, via its Orchard entity nets several hundred new account numbers to add into its Sales Ledger and chart of accounts. The process is set to complete in August if no CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) challenges are encountered. I would say one was pretty likely as this effectively consolidates two of the remaining medium-large social housing solutions, with a single dominating supplier.

MRI is used to UK housing solutions acquisition, having consumed Castleton, Orchard & Housing Partners, over the last few years. However, I would wonder if the non-housing parts of this deal, such as Education management, will be quietly disposed of, one the dust settles

The media release blurb tells us, “MRI Software is a leading provider of real estate software solutions that transform the way communities live, work and play. The Buyer intends to support Capita One’s growth plans and further develop its product portfolio and customer base.”

Capita have recently been coming back to the market for some new housing system procurements with a fully web based housing product. OH to OneHousing not quite a quick lift and shift however, as a few sites appear to be finding. Potentially, MRI moving old legacy Orchard customers to OneHousing, could well be a much cheaper option than completing the latest re-tread for the former that’s underway. MRI still seem to have a gap for a modern Cloud/browser solution for small-medium RSLs/RPs. Newer challengers look to continue hoovering these ex-Kypera sites for at the the next few years then.

It will be interesting as ever in these cases how Capita helpdesk’s and account management will be consumed. Will slightly sub-optimal current service be impacted or can it be possibly improved ?

If you are a contact with one or more of these products currently, feel free to get in touch to chat or maybe explore future options.

Read the full statement here.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ *** Join the discussion with Claire & Aiden *** _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

If you are stuck on a legacy SocialHousing system, reach out

please just get in touch , for a chat over a brew and some digestives ☕😋

       Related Post: How can the right Critical Friend guide your RSL to a new system?

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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Kasabian - Cutt Off.
(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


Access a quick list of our Social Housing ICT blog posts here

Could we help you or your organisation? Our contact details are here , get in touch we will be pleased to chat about your problems and help with your organisation issues.

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