• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Housing Technology logo

Housing Technology

Housing | IT | Telecoms | Business | Ecology

  • Free Subscription
  • Search Archive
  • Home
  • Research
  • Magazine
  • Events
  • Recruitment
  • Blog
  • On Demand
  • Contact
Home / Magazine Articles / Bedroom tax – fewer voids & shorter waiting lists?

Bedroom tax – fewer voids & shorter waiting lists?

Sir – While some see the bedroom tax as a controversial tussle between the political parties, the real life ramifications are proving to be a huge challenge for both the housing providers’ management teams and the tenants affected by the new regulations.

Among our customers, comprising many of the UK’s leading housing providers, we have seen a significant increase in voids activity. This is the result of people moving out of properties because either they can’t afford to rent them under the new rules or they don’t want to pay for rooms that are not being used. However, what has also become apparent is that these properties are very quickly taken up by families who provide full occupancy; indeed, some of these families have been waiting many years for suitable accommodation. Irrespective of the political backdrop and controversy of this policy, one cannot ignore the evidence that this trend is creating a fundamental shift in the housing sector as it begins to reduce the waiting lists for social housing.

However, this policy has thrown unprecedented pressure and resource demands onto housing providers to manage such changes. As they are already committed to delivering the very highest standards for their tenants, the changes need also to be handled sensitively and professionally. Thus, as housing providers aim to optimise their stock inventory in the fairest way, it is reassuring to hear that the widespread adoption of enterprise-wide mobile technology to manage processes such as voids inspections and remedial repairs is helping to minimise the time taken to turn such properties around as quickly as possible before the new tenants can move in.

Interestingly though, the driver for housing providers to already have such mobile systems was not borne out of any desire to cope with the stresses that the bedroom tax adds. Rather, it was the result of a constant and evolving strategy by housing providers over the last few years to invest in technologies that help them to deliver the very best service levels they can to their tenants. In short, this on-going strategy to put their tenants first has paid dividends and proved to be a very wise investment indeed.

Robert Dent

CEO, 1st Touch

See More On:

  • Vendor: 1st Touch
  • Topic: Finance Management
  • Publication Date: 036 - November 2013
  • Type: Letters

Primary Sidebar

Most Recent Articles

  • Free cyber-defence tools from NCSC
  • Learning from history
  • Grand Union Housing gets connected with Aico HomeLink
  • The silences in the system: Predicting and preventing damp and mould
  • Looking back and to the future: Cyberthreats in social housing
  • Hyde signs repairs contract with Totalmobile
  • Fuelling high performance automation
  • Morgan Sindall’s Carbon Zero decarbonisation tool
  • An ethical approach to arrears
  • Housing and the ever-evolving workplace
  • Supporting residents with home safety risks
  • Less innovation & more service design at RHP
  • Ateb Group outsources IT help desks to Central Networks
  • Capital Letters partners with Evo Digital to tackle homelessness
  • Calico appoints M247 for digital transformation
  • 24/7 care requires 24/7 technology
  • Govtech trends for 2023
  • Are you ready for business process automation?
  • Lincoln council moves to the cloud with Civica
  • Why do IT business improvement projects fail?
  • Flagship and Ebrik launch augmented reality app
  • Following the golden thread
  • Setting the standard for carbon-monoxide protection
  • The business case for data
  • Digital twins – When, not if…
  • Using data to build communities
  • The cyber-security jigsaw’s missing piece – Managed detection & response
  • Cyber-security challenges in housing
  • Digitalising retrofits with SHDF & HomeLink
  • Tips for improving care and support

Footer

Housing Technology
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Contact
  • Free Subscription
  • Book an event
  • Blog
  • Search All Articles
  • Research
  • Update Your Subscription
  • Privacy Policy

Welcome to the housing Technology – Trusted Information For Business Professionals in HOusing

Housing Technology is the leading technology information service for the UK housing sector and local governments. We have always believed in the fundamental importance of how the UK’s social housing providers use technology to improve their tenants’ lives.

Subscribe to Housing Technology to gain market-leading research, unsurpassed peer networking opportunities and a greater understanding of your role to transform your business.

Copyright © The Intelligent Business Company 2022 | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy
Housing Technology is published by the The Intelligent Business Company. A company with limited liability. Registered in England No. 4958057 | Vat Registion No. 833 0069 55.

Registered Business Address: Hoppingwood Farm, Robin Hood Way, London, SW20 0AB | Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8336 2293

htc23 pop banner