Empty Homes Group Session Four: ‘Joining Up The Dots’

We had a great turnout yesterday for the fourth session in our Empty Homes Programme ‘Joining Up the Dots’, chaired by Debbie Larner. The session explored how we can align all areas across an organisation to optimise the void period and meet the expectations set out in the new regulatory framework for social housing, which is being introduced in April 2024.  

Debbie kicked off the conversation with an overview of the new regulations coming in April, including the four new consumer standards and the new approach to consumer regulation. 

Henrik von Bahr of Plentific discussed some of the most common challenges seen in voids management, including the management of manual processes, a lack of visibility and accountability across organisations, and no insight for improvement.  

Henrik explained how Plentific’s Void Manager module offers an efficient way to automate the voids process and assess analytics on individual voids projects.  

Natalie Dwight, Maintenance Manager at L&Q, explained how the housing association started working with Plentific to manage its voids process. L&Q was able to eliminate silo working and multiple trackers with the system to help it overcome challenges including a lack of visibility and inefficient reporting systems, while also giving it visibility on contractor allocations, leading to a significant improvement in their void turnaround time. 

The session sparked much interest in the group and led to further conversations around data management and how it will play a key role in the future of voids management.  

Rita Lad, Sales Director at Travis Perkins Managed Services, explained how the company can streamline the voids management process and assist surveyors. Travis Perkins provides surveyors with a pre-populated list, they input the materials they need, and Travis Perkins can deliver them on the first day of the void. This can help contractors and landlords minimise lost earnings and work in a more time-efficient way to manage their voids.  

Our Empty Homes group meetings are free for AMIP members to attend. Our next session, ‘Safe and Decent Homes’ will be taking place on Tuesday February 20th, and you can sign up here: https://www.echelonip.co.uk/conference/empty-homes-working-group-session-five/.  

Not an AMIP member yet? Email echelonip.co.uk today to learn more about the benefits of joining our exclusive industry subgroups.