Sir – One of the hottest topics in technology over the past few years has undoubtedly been big data. This is essentially any data-set large and complex enough that it becomes difficult to process using traditional applications. The key question is: how can housing providers benefit from big data, and avoid it becoming a problem?…
Making sense of big dataRead More →
Letters
Balancing costs and services
Sir – Councils in England were warned recently that there was a danger they could run out of money. This is tough news; councils are faced with an increasing need to find savings, but this often leads to a reduction in front-line services. Perhaps there is another way? I would suggest that councils should explore…
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Universal credit and channel shifting
Sir – The potential impact of welfare reform is the most significant risk faced by housing providers in recent history. However, it is also seen by forward-thinking boards as an opportunity for positive change. The exact degree to which cash flows and revenues will be affected by universal credit is uncertain. With many housing providers…
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Are housing providers losing their appetite to develop?
Sir – At the time of writing (early August 2014), the Homes and Communities Agency had just allocated more than half of its £1.7 billion grant funding for the 2015-2018 affordable homes programme and it’s clear that some of the biggest landlords are shrinking their bids by between a half and two-thirds of their previous…
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Mining a rich seam
Sir – A common theme has emerged in the past year regarding the impact of welfare reform; the conclusion that housing providers need to devote more resources to support tenants to avoid problems with arrears. We’ve heard landlords describe the need for increased process efficiencies to enable front-line colleagues to spend more time with tenants,…
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From enthusiasm to action
Sir – In the space of one week, I attended two events. The first was the CIH’s Housing Goes Digital event in Birmingham and then the Technology in Housing seminar in Edinburgh. One thing we came across at both events was the absolute enthusiasm of landlords to innovate. I spotted some brave decisions in the…
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