To celebrate our 100th edition, Housing Technology invited a few of our longest-standing contributors to share their views on how the technology and business landscape has changed over the past 15-20 years, the milestones along the way, and what they think the future holds. Our sincere thanks to Aidan Dunphy (Esuasive), Steve Dungworth (Golden Marzipan & Open Data Exchange), Nas Hayat (Housing Insight), Roger Birkinshaw (NEC Software Solutions), Mark Woosey (Notting Hill Genesis & Two Saints Housing), Richard Hawkes (Platform Housing) and Douglas Silverstone (Southern Housing) for their editorial contributions.
What was the IT landscape in housing like towards the end of the 2000s?
Aidan Dunphy, chief product officer at Esuasive, said, “I’d characterise the late ‘noughties’ as a period in which the IT systems that had dominated the previous decade were beginning to feel their age. The systems were all similar in functionality, none of them were cloud-based, and all of them were weighed down by years of cumulative development.
“There were very few IT start-ups or genuinely innovative propositions, and they faced a difficult market to enter because the smaller housing providers couldn’t afford them and the larger ones were preoccupied with grand ERP experiments (e.g. Oracle at Home Group, Dynamics at Affinity Sutton and SAP at Sanctuary) or attempts to build their own solutions. At the time, I couldn’t see a realistic vision for the future of IT in the sector, seeing the ERP and DIY projects as misguided vanity projects (I still do).”
Richard Hawkes, head of data, analytics and AI at Platform Housing Group, said, “When I joined the housing sector in 2005, I was fresh out of school and amazed at the sight of five physical servers and Windows 2000. Academy (now-retired) was the HMS of choice, and mobile working through PDAs was becoming a reality. Desks had CRT monitors on them and Blackberry devices offered email on the move.”
Nas Hayat, founder and CEO of Housing Insight, said, “Technology in social housing was very different when I started – for example, paper-based systems and manual (offline) processes were still commonplace. Digital transformation wasn’t high on people’s agendas and, consequently, innovation was lacking.”
Roger Birkinshaw, executive director of government and housing at NEC Software Solutions, said, “During the 2000s, most of the IT used across the housing sector was fragmented, with large legacy systems dominating and integration a significant pain point. It was an era of proprietary software, locking housing providers into their IT suppliers’ ecosystems and limiting compatibility with other solutions.
“Systems were often procured by individual departments, and sometimes built in-house. Any attempts at integration were messy and complex, leading to unstable systems with gaping security problems by today’s standards. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets were still in their infancy – clunky, hard to navigate and often unreliable.”
Mark Woosey, director of information technology at Notting Hill Genesis and vice-chair of Two Saints Housing, said, “Compared with now, everything was old-fashioned! IT kit was housed in on-premise racks in rooms with poor security, inadequate air-conditioning and little or no fire suppression. Data backups were on tape (rarely tested and often failed) and DR times were measured in days and weeks.
“Digital, as we know it now, wasn’t on the agenda, and cyber security wasn’t yet an enterprise threat. Blackberry phones were the pinnacle of mobile technology, with housing staff often using their own Nokia ‘brick’ phones, if they had one.
“Google and AWS were a long way from being the ‘mega vendors’ we know today – Microsoft dominated the sector, even though Microsoft considered social housing to be insignificant, selling all its licences as on-premise charitable licences.
“All of the housing management systems were old-fashioned in terms of functionality and usability, solidly embedded with their housing customers. Consequently, investment and innovation faltered.”
How has the role and importance of technology changed?
Douglas Silverstone, director of technology at Southern Housing Group, said, “Technology has increasingly become ‘the business’; we turned off our systems today, how long would a housing provider last? We’ve seen some major cybersecurity breaches that prove the answer is measured in hours, not weeks.
“What has changed is that every part of the business now fundamentally relies on IT; when technology isn’t fully aligned, costs spiral, staff become ineffective and customers get poor service. This complete dependence on technology has meant that digital and data strategies have become board-level conversations and an important differentiator for our core business capabilities.”
Steve Dungworth, director of Golden Marzipan and chair of Open Data Exchange, said, “Since I started consulting five years ago, the first question I’m asked by clients is ‘what’s the best housing* management system?’ (*or asset, finance, scheduling, mobile, etc).
“Well, pick a card, any card… your system is the best system because you’ve bought and paid for it, so make the best of it. However, the emphasis has now changed from systems to data; the role of technology is to serve you data, information and insights.
“Sadly, the majority of systems are poor at providing data out of the box (or boxes). Our quest for ‘the’ system has caused data quality and integrity problems, not least because we’ve treated the box like a box room or attic; just stuff things out of the way in case we need them one day.”
Housing Insight’s Hayat said, “Housing providers and their staff are now well aware of the role that technology can play in making their organisations more capable and efficient, with more dedicated roles for technology and digital transformation projects.
“The perception of technology has changed because there are many more proven use-cases of technology to complement their activities and improve efficiency, all demonstrating a positive impact on the business.”
NHG’s Woosey said, “The pandemic, when businesses were forced to change and work remotely or cease to exist, opened senior management’s eyes to the capability and agility that IT could provide, resulted in so-called ‘digital IT’ and latterly automation and AI moving ahead at a rate that no-one could have imagined pre-pandemic. At the same time, housing management systems, once a mainstay of housing operations, are no longer the core of housing providers’ IT portfolios.
“Technology has finally reached housing providers’ executive teams in the forms of CIOs. How long before a successful CIO becomes a CEO? That would be my barometer of when IT has truly reached the level of maturity it is capable of achieving.
“Lastly, IT is now seen as being wholly business-critical. For example, a few minutes’ downtime is now considered a problem whereas in the early 2000s systems were often down for days at a time. I would add that the critically of IT to the housing sector is precisely what makes it an increasingly attractive target for ransomware and other cyber attacks.”
NEC’s Birkinshaw said, “There has been a strong move over the past two decades to integrate disparate systems and automate manual processes. Modern housing management systems should streamline operations and give housing officers a more complete picture of tenants and their homes so that informed decisions can be made on how to best support them.
“We’ve seen huge growth in the adoption of digital portals, mobile apps and social media platforms for engaging with tenants and making it easier for people to contact their housing provider, pay their rent, report ASB and book repairs online.
“The housing sector has finally become much more data-driven. For example, predictive analytics are helping housing providers to identify households at risk of arrears, and smart devices are being used to alert housing providers to homes at greater risk of problems such as damp and mould, fuel poverty and other environmental changes that might affect residents’ wellbeing.”
What have been the most significant milestones?
Platform Housing’s Hawkes said, “The ubiquitous adoption of broadband and the internet is the most important milestone. When I started in housing, we had a ‘blisteringly fast’ 2mbps leased line, and the internet was mainly about consuming content and email communications.
“Over the last 20 years, this has evolved so much, encompassing cloud-based computing, SaaS products, social media and the creation of true mobile working – the list could go on!”
Esuasive’s Dunphy said, “We’ve now passed a watershed and I suspect it was the pandemic that did it, forcing organisations to divert attention and resources to their technology functions. Computer says ‘no’ became computer says ‘don’t panic, here’s a solution’.
“For example, Housing Technology’s recent ‘Proptechs & IT Start-ups 2024/25’ report (available now from housing-technology.com) is fascinating because of the sheer number, variety and credibility of the IT suppliers that the report covers; in the current IT and business environment, they no longer feel like plucky outsiders trying to get their first client.”
Southern Housing’s Silverstone said, “In my time, GDPR, the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the pandemic all fundamentally changed the way we deliver technology and the way we serve information to our business teams.
“When done properly, GDPR gave us a framework to deliver and build data services. It drew out the need for HACT’s data standards and it made data something that we as businesses needed to manage.
“Grenfell shook us all; it was a day that changed our world and it highlighted where our systems failed to spot predictable failings. It triggered a regulatory step-change which in turn meant we needed better systems, better data and better understandings.
“The pandemic brought us forward, as with other sectors, into a world we’d already been looking at. It gave us the flexibility to deliver services wherever we needed them and it shone a light on technology teams who excelled in keeping the show on the road. I would also give an honourable mention to cybersecurity; it hasn’t had a ‘milestone moment’ but it has consistently increased in importance (and cost) year-on-year.”
Golden Marzipan’s Dungworth said, “All of the notable changes in housing IT have been reactions to the wider workplace – Grenfell, fire safety and compliance records, the pandemic and tools for hybrid working, consumer regulations and the Housing Ombudsman’s focus on data. These are all alongside the big IT stuff that’s driving the wider commercial world – generative AI, IoT, blockchain, cloud and big data.”
Birkinshaw said, “The internet of things is gaining traction in the housing sector, with smart devices increasingly being used to help housing providers predict more accurately when maintenance is needed to address problems such as damp and mould, and smart appliances help housing officers to spot residents who suddenly stop using their heating in the winter, a possible indication that they are struggling financially or physically.
“Technology suppliers are making technology more accessible, efficient and responsive to the needs of both housing providers and their tenants. These tools offer new opportunities to improve service delivery and support people in ways that just weren’t possible before.”
Woosey said, “The significant milestones are digitisation, cybersecurity, AI, cloud computing, and low/no-code development, in parallel with the decline of the ‘old guard’ of monolithic systems providers and rise of the ‘mega vendors’ characterised by Microsoft, Amazon and Google.
“A less-noticed change is the generational shift of senior management retiring, having worked in housing since, say, the 1980s and the next generation of management for whom change and transformation have become their primary goals.”
What do the next five years hold?
Dunphy said, “AI is the ‘buzzword du jour’ but make no mistake, it may be hyped but it’s not over-hyped; I firmly believe that we’re just scratching the surface of how LLMs and other AIs will transform how we use technology.
“Expect to see solutions become conversational, much more automated, less concerned with process and precision and more with outcomes, and customisable by people with no technology skills. It’s a brave new world!”
Dungworth said, “Salesforce, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services are the emerging platforms. Aside from anything else, they provide safety and security in numbers, minimising cyber threats and curating accessible data.
“In some ways, I’m sad that we haven’t settled on some technologies that align with our culture. As a sector, we don’t seem to like the idea that somebody will make money from us, whether it’s big tech or big consulting. We think that any spare money needs to go on front-line services and residents. There’s sometimes a feeling that more investment in technology doesn’t improve health, education or housing and only serves to increase suppliers’ profits.”
Hawkes said, “We’re now at a pivotal point in the hype of AI. There are now lots of innovative products and exciting tools so it will be fascinating to see how AI matures to become production-ready and truly embedded and trusted within customer journeys and business transactions.
“As we evolve to deliver more personalised products and services that meet our customers’ needs, I expect that AI will help to bridge the gap between our existing and future solutions which put the customer at the heart of everything we do.”
Hayat said, “Ultimately, it will be the continued improvement of service delivery to residents through the advance of complementary technologies, with data at the core of defining the best approach.
“AI will play an important role in improving technology in the future. We’re already seeing it being used to understand data better, improve processes and improve efficiencies in the business. This will continue to advance, with some processes being entirely automated and handled by AI leading to even more efficiencies.”
Silverstone said, “Dare I mention AI? On its own it won’t change our world but I suspect it will fundamentally change our technology supply-chain. I doubt that we’ll develop in-house AI solutions but I do expect our technology suppliers to bring AI as a fundamental part of their core offer and without increasing costs. Google, Microsoft and AWS, as well as other giants will increasingly make that capability more and more viable, so those suppliers that don’t move fast enough will become increasingly irrelevant.
“Finally, I’m hopeful that the government will take the housing crisis seriously and build social housing like none of us has ever seen before. It’s the key to unlocking so many of our social challenges.”
Housing Technology would like to thank Aidan Dunphy (Esuasive), Steve Dungworth (Golden Marzipan & Open Data Exchange), Nas Hayat (Housing Insight), Roger Birkinshaw (NEC Software Solutions), Mark Woosey (Notting Hill Genesis & Two Saints Housing), Richard Hawkes (Platform Housing) and Douglas Silverstone (Southern Housing) for their editorial contributions.
