Poplar HARCA won the bronze award in the customer/tenant services category of the inaugural Housing Technology 2024 awards. Fransiska Greene, Poplar HARCA’s asset data coordinator, explains how the housing provider is using Aico’s IoT devices to empower its tenants and tackle mould.
Improving our customer services is an ongoing aspiration for Poplar HARCA. With over 10,000 homes across east London, we’re committed to making sure every resident’s home is safer, greener and smarter. Therefore the emergence of technology which monitors air quality at home and can raise an alert to potential emergencies seemed an obvious thing for us to roll out.
Valesca Wilton-Smith, head of asset compliance, Poplar HARCA, said, “Over the years, our sector has been rocked by tragic instances of deaths and serious injuries caused by domestic fires, smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide and mould and damp. Our partnership with HomeLink/Aico offered an ideal solution that allows a better form of prevention and protection against these dangers.”
Timeline of rollout
In 2019, we began a trial of environmental sensors in four properties to test and learn from this emerging technology. These were installed alongside smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
We then expanded the trial in 2021 to homes where there were historic mould and condensation problems. As part of the trial, residents were given access to HomeLink’s Resident app to give them real-time information about the health of their homes.
In 2022, we introduced the HomeLink Connected Home solution to the mix and began rolling this out to properties as standard. The solution includes environmental sensors, optical alarms, and carbon monoxide and heat detectors. We’ve also installed additional devices in some properties with heightened functions for residents who might have visual or audio impairments.
Poplar HARCA now has over 29,000 linked devices in nearly 3,500 of our tenants’ homes; these have helped to offer a smarter approach to tackling and preventing mould. We’ve also been able to identify faulty smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and responsively arrange for servicing, something we were unable to do before.
We can also identify trends and patterns in particular types of homes which puts us on the front foot when it comes to dealing with mould. This data helps us to shape our response to treating and preventing mould in the future and we can now also forecast opportunities for investment or retrofitting.
Engaging residents
Understandably, some residents were worried about this new technology being installed in their homes. Working with Aico to allay these concerns, we held a series of events that allowed residents to meet us, interact with the technology and understand how it works. The Aico team supported this work with detailed guides, explanatory videos and advisers to talk to residents ahead of fitting the devices.
As a result of doing this, our residents were more willing to embrace the new technology. One local resident said, “I found it really easy to get to grips with it and I’m a bit of a technophobe… I can quickly go into the app, read the environmental information, spot which rooms aren’t happy and hopefully do something about it.”
Future plans
The technology is a true game-changer because it allows us to be more responsive to any concerns about the health of residents’ homes. We will continue rolling out the HomeLink Connected Home solution and will work with residents to keep their homes healthy and safe.
The smart-home devices are fitted alongside our regular domestic electrical testing programme and we expect to have fitted them in most of our tenants’ homes by the end of this financial year.
Key benefits to residents:
- Residents have a real-time view of the overall health of their home and make informed decisions based on that information.
- In-app advice can help residents avoid mould and air-quality issues from fully developing.
- The HomeLink app keeps track of device testing and reminds residents to test their alarms.
- Regular testing and the real-time status of alarms reduce the risk of fire or carbon monoxide events by making sure key devices are working correctly.
- Residents can use the information they hold on their home’s health to ensure Poplar HARCA follows up problems and addresses them accordingly.
How the HomeLink devices help Poplar HARCA:
- Proactive maintenance – Identifying the conditions conducive to mould and organising site visits to investigate and prevent the problem worsening.
- Compliance and asset management – We can see in real time the lifespan of alarms and detectors to maximise their use and replace when necessary. We can also identify any problems with key devices (e.g. smoke and carbon monoxide alarms) and either fix or replace them before a fire, smoke or carbon monoxide event happens.
- Identifying trends in data – We can now use historical data to identify potential trends around factors such as property type, construction type and age of stock.
- Inform long-term investment and retrofit – Poplar HARCA can use the historical data and potential trends to inform our investment decisions to improve our housing stock and address long-term problems.
- Better understanding of our housing stock – We now have more confidence in our knowledge of how our housing stock performs, which areas need more attention and the assurance that our information is accurate and up-to-date.
Fransiska Greene is an asset data coordinator at Poplar HARCA. The housing provider won the bronze award in the customer/tenant services category of the inaugural Housing Technology 2024 awards.
