Southern Housing Group is using Coactiva’s data collection and analysis services to identify which households in its 25,000 properties are most at risk from next year’s planned introduction of universal credit.
Before Coactiva’s involvement, SHG had already sent its information relating to ‘number of bedrooms’ to each local authority within its stock areas, but SHG then had difficulty collecting the required housing benefit information from the respective local authorities. Even when housing benefit data had been returned, it was inconsistently formatted and didn’t include enough information to calculate household under-occupancy.
As Coactiva was already receiving 100 Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) files from local authorities throughout the UK, SHG chose the company to smooth the data collection and analysis process. Coactiva’s data bureau and reporting service collects, matches and hosts the tenant and benefit data, with SHG given access to Coactiva’s online analytical reporting and mapping tool to enable the housing provider to identify and support the tenants most likely to be affected by the welfare reforms.
Judy McGough from Southern Housing Group said, “With the challenges imposed by the pending introduction of universal credit, it is essential for us to easily identify our affected tenants and assess where to target resources most effectively. Coactiva’s analytics enable that critical measurement and understanding of the operational and cost implications.”
