By Gary Haynes, MD of Voicescape, the UK’s leading provider of resident engagement solutions for housing associations and local authorities
We now know that 60% of the 300,000 affordable homes to be delivered in the £39bn housing programme pledged in last month’s Spending Review will be earmarked for social rent.
It marks a landmark moment for social housing, with the government signalling its recognition of housing as a critical driver of economic growth, and a lifeline for communities.
The commitment will empower social landlords to pursue more ambitious, long-term development strategies. More importantly, it promises better living conditions for hundreds of thousands of people while revitalising a sector that has been in decline for decades.
Yet delivering on this ambition will be no small feat. To put it in perspective, the 180,000 social rent homes required represent a sixfold increase on the number delivered in the decade to 2024. Achieving this will demand a scale of housebuilding not seen since the post-war era.
A challenging period
And social landlords must deliver this expansion amid a perfect storm of challenges; the cost-of-living crisis, Universal Credit complexities, and rising arrears – with 9% of tenants already behind on payments and another 70% at risk.1
Meanwhile, the sector itself faces mounting financial pressures. Debt levels are projected to reach £120bn by 2026, driven by rising repair, maintenance, and decarbonisation costs, alongside refinancing needs.2
Add to this the imminent Decent Homes Standard updates and the Renters’ Rights Bill, and it’s clear that regardless of the significant capital expenditure pledges, in the day-to-day
social landlords will be required to achieve more with less, under greater scrutiny than ever before.
None of this will surprise industry readers, nor should it suggest reluctance to embrace the Government’s plan. This is a transformative opportunity. But continuing with business-as-usual approaches won’t suffice. To manage expanding responsibilities, and seize new opportunities, the sector must continue to innovate.
The potential of digital transformation
Digital transformation will be key to sustaining this affordable housing agenda. Only through technological innovation, particularly AI, can the sector revolutionise service delivery to enhance quality while driving long-term efficiencies as numbers of residents increase.
AI’s potential spans arrears management, compliance, customer satisfaction, and income recovery and leading providers are already proving its value. For example, Housing Association Thirteen Group cut manual rent-arrears actions by 65% using the AI-powered Caseload Manager solution, freeing staff to focus on complex cases and personalised support.
The scope for automation extends further. Another of our solutions is designed to reduce the costs of no-access appointments for repairs, maintenance and compliance reporting, for example. This system saved Platform Housing Group over £70,000 in just six months across one business function, for example, while also making a marked improvement in customer engagement.
Collectively, embracing automation across organisations and teams could free up vast amounts of time, all of which can be put to better use.
Indeed, AI-enabled systems won’t replace human roles in social housing – one of the early concerns about welcoming such technologies into the sector too quickly. Rather, the optimal role for these technologies is in supporting and enhancing human expertise, taking care of repetitive tasks while allowing operatives to prioritise critical cases, make informed decisions, and deliver better services when and where they’re needed most.
Embracing the opportunity
As the sector scales up to meet its targets, such innovations must become the norm. That’s why we also welcome the Chancellor’s £2bn commitment to ‘homegrown AI’ as a tool to ‘solve challenges’ in the Spending Review.
Social housing is a prime example of how AI can tackle significant national challenges. We’re optimistic that the combined outcomes of the Review will act as a catalyst for accelerating tech-enabled service delivery for communities and social housing providers across the UK.
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