Places for People was Commended in the Digital Transformation category at the Housing Technology Awards 2026.
Digitisation in social housing is often framed as a ‘big bang’ – a single programme, a fixed scope and a go-live date that promises overnight transformation. That narrative is comforting; it is also unrealistic.
At Places for People, we chose a different path and one that reflects the reality of delivering services people rely on every day. Our approach has been incremental, iterative and relentlessly focused on outcomes: better services, delivered faster, with greater transparency and consistency for our customers.
We began with a clear ambition: to simplify our systems so that we can work more efficiently and deliver a consistent, joined-up customer journey. To achieve this, we set out to build a single, scalable platform supporting the full housing lifecycle, from first contact to repairs, compliance, voids and resident self-service. This addresses the real challenge of how fragmented systems slow us down, limit insights and affect the quality and timeliness of the service our customers receive.
Beginning with MVP
We selected Salesforce as the foundation, not as a silver bullet, but as a flexible platform on which we could evolve. We resisted the temptation to obsess with designing the ‘perfect’ solution immediately; instead, we started with a ‘minimum viable product’ (MVP).
Why did we choose an MVP route? Because in housing, waiting years for perfection means delaying better outcomes for customers. MVPs allow you to deliver value early, learn quickly and improve continuously. They build momentum, create organisational confidence and, most importantly, start making a difference where it matters: in people’s homes and communities.
Our first Salesforce release went live in November 2023, introducing CRM capabilities alongside an initial responsive repairs solution. It was a decisive move away from disconnected systems and manual processes, and it immediately changed how our repairs were raised, managed and tracked.
New releases & ongoing learning
But this wasn’t a ‘launch and leave’ approach. Throughout 2024, we learned more and every release taught us something new, such as where processes broke down, where our data lacked structure and where customer expectations weren’t being met. Those insights weren’t setbacks, they were fuel.
We built a delivery model around delivering early, capturing high-quality data from day one and iterating relentlessly to improve outcomes. In our view, this approach is what digitisation should look like in practice – not a distant promise of transformation, but continuous, visible improvements.
In mid-2025, we extended the platform to include scheduling for compliance and voids, replacing fragmented workflows with a single, integrated approach. The impact was immediate: better visibility, stronger assurance and more consistent delivery.
Around the same time, we introduced a customer portal. This was about more than technology. It was about giving residents greater control, clearer information and real-time visibility of the services available to them.
Later last year, we delivered our Awaab’s Law solution, supporting the management of damp and mould cases within statutory timescales. And because we’d already built a robust digital foundation, we could move quickly without compromising on governance or accountability.
Internal capabilities
One of the most important decisions we made was to invest in our own internal digital capabilities. Rather than outsourcing our transformation, we built a multi-disciplinary team to own it. That shift has meant that we can respond faster, adapt to regulatory change and design around customers and colleagues’ needs.
And if there is one lesson that underpins all of this: technology doesn’t transform services, data does.
From the start we prioritised structured, consistent data capture. That sometimes meant harder choices but it has given us something invaluable: a trusted, organisation-wide dataset. That, in turn, enables better decisions, stronger assurance and more proactive service delivery.
Now, we are building on that foundation.
We are entering the next phase of our journey: applying AI in a way that is practical, responsible and grounded in real service improvements. We’re now using tools such as Agentforce and Google Gemini for:
- Case triaging and prioritisation;
- Customer communications;
- Early insights to support compliance and interventions;
- Reducing administrative tasks so our colleagues can focus on what matters most.
Useful principles to consider
Looking back, a few principles stand out:
- Start small, but start now – progress beats perfection;
- Treat iteration as a strength, not a compromise;
- Build capability, not dependency;
- Put data at the centre, and insights will follow;
- Design with people, not for them.
Digitisation isn’t a destination, it’s a commitment to continuous improvement, to better outcomes and to using technology to truly help people. At Places for People, that commitment is already delivering results and is key to us supporting communities where everyone can thrive.
Dan Sanderson is the head of digitisation at Places for People. The housing provider was Commended in the Digital Transformation category at the Housing Technology Awards 2026.
