Yarlington Housing Group has introduced GIS and spatial analytics across its operations to make significant cost and efficiency savings, based on linking disparate in-house and third-party data. The housing provider reported that the budget for the project was around £50,000.
Based on Ordnance Survey mapping, Yarlington’s bespoke web-based system centralises data from in-house systems, partners, and statistical organisations and presents it visually using more than 300 custom-built layers, enabling smarter strategy development, enhanced customer service, informed decision making and greater cost-effectiveness.
Karen Dumper, head of information, Yarlington Housing Group said “Working with partner agencies and using information available through intelligence networks to deliver a GIS project like this is innovative. The project has fired the interest of other organisations, and has introduced more collaborative working for the benefit of our communities.”
Prior to the introduction of the GIS, Yarlington staff had to query multiple systems when responding to basic enquiries and, due to the time this took, it was often referred to specific departments. Now, most queries can now be dealt with at the first point of contact through the use of GIS and consolidated access to data from all systems. In addition, Yarlington Housing has used GIS to proactively identify, target and prepare the tenants likely to be most affected by the bedroom tax and the introduction of universal credit.
Yarlington Housing’s introduction of GIS and the associated spatial analysis have resulted in the turn-around time for lettings decreasing from 23 days to 14 days, rent arrears have fallen to only one per cent, and maintenance and repairs workers have increased their productivity from 2.7 to 3.3 jobs completed per day per operative alongside a related cut in annual fuel costs of 13 per cent.
