For millions of people across the UK, social housing represents more than a roof over their head – it’s a family home, a lifeline against rising rents and a foothold in uncertain times. But behind every rent payment lies an uneasy balancing act of stretched tenants, squeezed landlords, rising costs and capped increases. Social housing providers are expected to juggle tighter budgets with the growing social responsibility of providing support to tenants through economic turbulence.
Recent figures paint a sobering picture because arrears across social housing are rising at an unsustainable rate. Data from March 2024 showed that an average of 4,400 social housing units were in arrears per local authority, a 17 per cent increase of over five years from 3,700 units in 2019. The average value of arrears per local authority also rose by 70 per cent, from £1.8 million in 2019 to £3.1 million in 2024.
As the government moves to restrain rent hikes and push the sector towards digital modernisation, housing providers must answer an increasingly pressing question: how do we balance affordability with financial stability?
Why payments are ripe for reinvention
At the heart of this problem lies the often overlooked, manual processes of rent collection. The traditional rent cycle is rigid and, despite its importance, these processes remain fragmented, inflexible and prone to failure at moments when tenants are more financially vulnerable.
For tenants, paydays rarely align with rent cycles and one missed payment, from illness, job loss, unexpected costs or simply cashflow mismatches, can easily snowball into arrears, debt, stress and disengagement.
For housing providers, each late payment triggers a chain of labour-intensive interventions. Housing providers spend disproportionate amounts of time chasing overdue accounts, diverting their focus from proactive tenant support. Chasing, reconciling, escalating and (in the worst cases) initiating formal recovery proceedings all require significant manual effort for already stretched teams.
This dynamic leaves both sides stuck on the back foot, reacting to problems rather than preventing them. It’s expensive, inefficient and emotionally draining for tenants and providers alike.
Artificial intelligence offers a way to fundamentally rethink this dynamic, and not by replacing the human touch but by augmenting it.
AI – predictive, proactive & personal
AI-powered payment software offers housing providers something traditional processes never could – foresight. Instead of waiting for arrears to accumulate, these systems can use historical payment data, economic indicators and behavioural patterns to predict which tenants might soon struggle to pay, sometimes weeks or even months before the problem materialises.
This predictive intelligence allows housing providers to act sooner and more sensitively, offering tailored support or alternative payment schedules. By doing so, providers can take an active role in prioritising tenant wellbeing, easing financial strain and helping to prevent arrears before they take hold.
At Access PaySuite, we’ve embedded this thinking into Evo, our soon-to-be-launched AI-enabled payments platform designed to support organisations facing affordability, efficiency and engagement challenges. Using real-time data, Evo can help housing providers predict payment risks, automate outreach and adjust collection strategies in ways that are both financially sound and human-focused.
Reducing administrative drag with automation
AI isn’t just about data-informed predictions. It also excels at lifting the heavy administrative burden from front-line housing teams, freeing them to focus on more meaningful, human-centric work.
In a world where housing officers are under increasing pressure to ‘do more with less’, intelligent automation can handle the mundane but mission-critical tasks that have traditionally soaked up time and resources, such as sending reminders, processing payments, managing reconciliations and even flagging inconsistencies or potential frauds.
Rather than spending hours manually managing spreadsheets and chasing payments, teams can focus on supporting their tenants and improving services.
Balancing affordability & sustainability
The government’s drive to cap rent increases in social housing aims to shield tenants from the full brunt of inflationary pressures, but for housing providers these caps create an undeniable squeeze on operating budgets.
AI-powered systems present a way to navigate this tightrope.
By generating real-time, data-led insights into cashflow trends, payment risks and arrears hotspots, platforms like Evo can give housing providers the tools they need to plan with greater confidence, even in volatile market conditions. This means housing providers are better equipped to maintain affordability for tenants while meeting their own financial obligations, whether that’s repaying loans, investing in housing stock or maintaining customer-facing services.
A human-centric transformation
At its core, this isn’t just about collecting rents more efficiently, it’s about reimagining the tenant-landlord relationship.
Intelligent payment systems allow housing providers to step away from the traditional ‘chase and collect’ model towards something far more collaborative. Imagine a system where tenants receive personalised nudges based on their unique circumstances, self-service flexibility that empowers them to manage their payments flexibly and AI-powered assistants for 24/7 support with any questions, payments or budgeting advice.
As well as easing operational pressure on housing teams, this shift builds trust and improves tenant engagement. When people feel seen, supported and treated as individuals rather than account numbers, they’re more likely to communicate early, take ownership of their financial commitments and avoid any downward spirals of debt. In this context, AI isn’t replacing the human touch; it’s enhancing it, making space for genuine conversations and earlier interventions before financial difficulties harden into arrears.
Technology can quieten the noise so housing providers can focus on helping people stay secure and supported in their homes.
A smarter, more resilient sector
With arrears climbing and economic pressures showing no signs of relenting, now’s the time to adopt systems that are flexible, intelligent and human-centred.
AI-powered platforms like Evo represent a cultural shift. From reactive to resilient, from transactions to relationships and from short-term fixes to long-term sustainable thinking.
At the end of the day, social housing is about people, and with the right technology, we can make sure the systems behind the scenes are just as supportive and adaptable as the front-line services tenants rely on.
Alex Common is the divisional product and engineering director at Access PaySuite, part of The Access Group.
