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Summer Challenges for Social Landlords: Repairs Service Considerations

Summer brings its own set of challenges for social landlords, especially in managing repairs and maintenance services. From ensuring the safety of trade colleagues working in hot weather to handling increased tenant activities and potential disruptions, the Great British summer demands strategic planning and efficient workflows. In this article, we will explore some the typical problems faced by those responsible for delivering repairs and maintenance services during summer and how these challenges can be met.

Annual Leave

Much like workers from any other industry sector, those employed by the repairs arm of social housing providers like to get away for the summer too. This can cause headaches for repairs service mangers and schedulers and lead to a scarcity of available resources if not properly planned for. To remedy the situation, many HAs and councils are turning to technological solutions such as Mobysoft’s RepairSense. This powerful, algorithmic platform surfaces repairs data and helps identify those jobs that are at risk of escalating into troublesome repeat issues that require multiple visits by trade colleagues. By stopping these ‘repeaters’ before they have opportunity to become just that, stretched summertime staffing resources can be more effectively deployed elsewhere to jobs that require immediate attention.

Equipment & PPE for Hot Weather

During the summer, trade colleagues face potential health risks due to hot weather conditions. Providing access to water, sunscreen, and ensuring the right safety wear (e.g., safety boots and suitable high-vis gear) is essential. It’s important for repairs managers to ensure that PDA notes are detailed and up to date so that trades colleagues can adequately prepare for the job in hand (including ensuring that they have the right equipment).

Handling Heavy Rain and Leaking Gutters

Heavy rain during summer can lead to leaking gutters and downpipes. Most housing providers usually address these types of issues on programme, however, the need for reactive repairs can be significantly reduced with preventative maintenance. RepairSense’s AI-powered platform can help in this respect as it enables landlords to analyse repair trends, facilitating proactive maintenance measures to address such issues on a scheduled basis.

BBQs, Summer Drinking, and Entry to Premises

Social gatherings at home tend to increase during the summer months as tenants take advantage of the warm weather and invite friends and family round for BBQs and the like. As with most social gatherings, there’s a pretty good chance that alcohol consumption will be involved. The combination of inebriated people and fire however is never one that ends well, and so it’s important for housing providers to warn of the dangers and keep both tenants and trade colleagues safe.

Automated rich card messaging can be utilised by landlords to communicate risks to tenants and implement policies on safe BBQ usage. This helps prevent fire incidents (such as a recent one caused by a BBQ on a high-rise balcony), protecting both tenants and properties.

Summer Holidays and Children at Home

The summer holidays are obviously a time in which more under 18s will be at home, not to mention an increase in the number of younger children playing in streets and gardens. As such, it’s important for trade colleagues to be mindful of safe operating practices such as driving with appropriate speed around housing estates. Operatives should also ensure that they only enter properties where there is an adult (over 18) present and report any safeguarding incidents of young children left home alone.

RepairSense for a Stress-Free Summer

Summer challenges for social landlords can be daunting, but with the right tools and strategies, these obstacles can be overcome effectively. Mobysoft’s RepairSense platform enables social housing providers to proactively address repair issues and optimise repairs services staffing resource by cutting out nuisance repeat repairs jobs. By leveraging the power of AI-driven data insights, RepairSense empowers trade colleagues and drives a culture shift towards more efficient and effective repairs management – something that is a boon to schedulers, managers, and trade colleagues alike in the challenging summer months.

If you’d like to discover how your organisation can harness the power of data to best assign valuable resources to overcome the challenges thrown up during the summer season, take a closer look at our RepairSense platform.

Dean Quinn
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