Council aims to ‘create single version of truth’ with new housing management system

News08.11.234.00 PM by Grainne Cuffe

Basildon Council is considering moving to one housing management system to “create a single version of the truth”.

Basildon Council’s office (picture: Google Street View)

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Basildon Council is considering moving to one housing management system to “create a single version of the truth” #UKhousing

The council revealed it was considering the move as part of a report that was delivered to its overview and scrutiny commission.

Authored by the local authority’s director of people and change, Basildon pledged to “create a single version of the truth through migrating the housing management functions onto the council’s preferred enterprise solution”.

Basildon Council, which owns and manages around 11,000 homes, hopes this will “ensure interoperability and the ongoing security of council/customer data”.

Basildon currently uses several software applications to record data, respond to tenant enquiries and manage its tenancies. It said that these are “end of life, do not align with the council’s information and communication technology (ICT) strategy and, most importantly, do not deliver on the requirements of the service or our customer”.

According to the report, around 110 staff members support the delivery of the housing service.

“This is a busy and challenging frontline service dealing with an average of 600 enquiries per week. The customer base is diverse, often with vulnerabilities and complex needs,” it said.

The project to procure a new housing management system “will initiate the move to a single rationalised platform providing all housing services throughout the council”, with the exception of housing maintenance, which is run by a contractor, and the housing register and choice based letting functions.

By procuring a new system, the council aims to improve residents’ experience by providing access to a 24-7 service and aims to implement automation “where applicable” to improve performance and to create more capacity.

According to the report: “The current applications utilised for these functions are end of life as the product is no longer being developed by the supplier, with minimal support available and must be replaced.

“Also, the proposed approach to consolidate applications into a Microsoft platform is a key component of the council’s ICT Strategy.

“It is therefore considered that the only option is for the council to undertake a procurement to replace the existing product.”

The council aims to decide on the new contract in January 2024, and have it start the following month.

Andrew Schrader, cabinet member for housing and estate renewal, said: “At Basildon Council, we are committed to providing a high level of customer service to more than 10,000 tenanted properties in the borough.

“To meet increasing demand, we currently rely on a range of systems to store and process our tenants’ information – some of which are approaching the end of their supported lifespan.

“We are exploring a range of options, including the move to a single rationalised platform to provide all our housing services.”