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Housing Proactive set to improve communication with tower block tenants

Image for Housing Proactive set to improve communication with tower block tenants
05-11-2018Housing

Alertacall is excited to announce that one of its oldest housing clients, One Manchester, will be using the Housing Proactive service in General Needs as well as Sheltered. The properties are all based in tower block accommodation located in Central Manchester. The service is being implemented following tenant consultation to improve day-to-day communication and also help One Manchester deliver service efficiencies and better manage properties within their tower blocks.

One Manchester was formed in 2015 from the partnership between City South Manchester and Eastlands Homes, and they currently own and manage more than 12,000 homes across Manchester. City South first started using the Housing Proactive service more than six years ago.

In November 2018, Housing Proactive is being implemented by One Manchester at one of their tower blocks located near the city centre as a direct result of tenant feedback. A concierge service which was formerly used to report repairs on behalf of tenants had been removed, therefore tenants wanted a system which would make it easy to communicate property issues with the housing team and have contact at weekends, not just during the week.

Housing Proactive is a housing management system which increases contact with tenants regarding housing related issues by offering it on a daily basis, 365 days a year.

Daily contact from Housing Proactive is controlled by individual tenants using specially designed devices installed at their property, in conjunction with a highly trained contact centre team. Importantly, the service helps housing providers keep tenants better informed about on-site work or issues which may affect their property – enabling housing teams to broadcast messages at times convenient to individual tenants.

The system also provides One Manchester with a range of useful property management reports, including occupancy tracking, which helps the team schedule maintenance and demonstrates a real commitment to fire safety and emergency planning. The reports make it easy for the housing team to allocate staff time where it’s needed most and also enable them to quickly identify tenants whose housing needs might be changing.

Paul Graham, Place Manager at One Manchester, commented:

“Housing Proactive will allow us to better communicate with tenants in the tower block in a quicker more efficient way than before. Importantly, it will help One Manchester to remain focused on Health and Safety issues within the block, particularly fire evacuation strategies. Regular property checks will help us proactively manage any maintenance issues and respond to any other property feedback as required. The service makes it easier for tenants to report repairs, so will help to overall improve repairs performance and help us better maintain properties. Also, there’s functionality that will allow us to link the system to the door entry/access controls when we upgrade it.”

Benjamin Lambert, Head of Client Relations at Alertacall, commented:

“Having worked closely with City South for many years, and more recently as One Manchester, it’s great news that they’re expanding the service into their wider stock and more General Needs accommodation. Our Online Reporting portal will prove incredibly valuable to their team, especially because unlike their sheltered service, there isn’t a permanent staff presence on site. On top of occupancy tracking, they’ll be able to access live information on how tenants are engaging with the service, and trended information highlighting potential changes in their housing needs.”