Since its introduction of Mobysoft’s RentSense software, Enfield Council has improved rent collections for its properties by over £1 million and reduced its arrears and evictions.
Enfield Council, with around 10,000 properties in North London, had been affected by the introduction of universal credit, with its arrears increasing over the past four years as Housing Benefit fell by around £4 million during that time. This was compounded by income officers receiving several thousand weekly arrears alerts from the council’s housing management system.
Zhensheng Chen, income manager, Enfield Council, said, “The system would create several thousand alerts each week, many of which did not need contact. For our staff, it’s demotivating spending time on alerts that require no action.”
Since deploying RentSense, the council’s arrears alerts have fallen by 60 per cent, giving its income officers more time for each case alongside alerts being flagged much earlier.
Geoff Waterton, head of income and debt, Enfield Council, said, “Early intervention is the key to preventing arrears increasing and stopping avoidable evictions. That intervention is fundamental to managing our arrears when cases are becoming incredibly complex. That’s why RentSense is so effective.
“Since we started using RentSense, our collection figures have improved by over £1 million year-on-year, rising from 100.2 per cent to 101.9 per cent, plus our arrears are falling for the first time in four years and evictions are down.”
