RENTSENSE
LOCAL AUTHORITY
Properties
FTE Capacity created
Arrears Reduction
Mobysoft
What was income collection like prior to RentSense?
Simon Hughes
At that time South Lakes had generic housing officers and the prospect of having to check all 3,000 accounts, would have wasted a considerable amount of time. With the transition to four weekly HB we just wanted to see and action cases that needed our attention.
Mobysoft
What was the initial impact of RentSense for the officers?
Simon Hughes
Back then, before RentSense, officers were looking at all their accounts in the HMS, checking for arrears, but after deployment of RentSense they were looking at just 25% of their patch. So straight away we could see the benefits.
Mobysoft
You moved from a generic to specialist housing model, did RentSense help with this transition?
Simon Hughes
We moved to three income officers who looked after 3,000 rent accounts. At that time RentSense was recommending about 500 cases a week across the team. This meant the officers were focused on their cases, which they got through by mid-week, in turn this freed up time for visits and so forth later in the week. Both then and now I believe without RentSense we would need another 2-3 FTE to simply cope and manage with income collection, it is that important.
Mobysoft
You recently transitioned to a new HMS, and it was believed the vendor could help you replicate RentSense?
Simon Hughes
In the last year we have tried to create something like RentSense in our new HMS but this has proved quite challenging. However, a decision has been made to continue using RentSense. (Since this case study South Lakes have signed a four-year contract to continue to use RentSense).
Mobysoft
How did the move to the new HMS go with re-deploying RentSense?
Since making the move to the new HMS RentSense has really bridged the gap for us, indeed it (RentSense) was one of the smoothest parts of making the transition (to a new HMS). For us this was really important and Mobysoft coped really well with the whole process.”
Simon Hughes
I would say that in the future if we were looking to change our HMS again I would want demonstrable evidence that the system could deliver similar results to RentSense before committing to it
Mobysoft
It has been a time of change for South Lakes with welfare reform, transitioning from a generic to a specialist income collection team as well as deploying a new HMS how has RentSense helped with this?
Simon Hughes
Since 2016 our arrears have fallen from 2.08% to 1.76% in 2017 to 1.33% in 2018 and RentSense has certainly helped with that. We have maintained upper quartile performance throughout using RentSense. Of our 3,000 tenancies over the last nine to ten months the officers have only had around 120 cases a week to look at, which really plays a part.
Mobysoft
Would you recommend RentSense to other organisations?
Simon Hughes
RentSense has really helped, without it I am convinced our arrears would be in a much worse state, and it is consistently saving us 2-3 FTE. Yes, I have and I do. I have lost count the number of organisations I have spoken to. We are happy and it works well for us
