Harnessing Technology for Better Outcomes

Managing almost 4,200 homes with a small team of income officers, Homes in Sedgemoor has found the implementation of technologies to be a huge benefit when it comes to supporting customers.

Voicescape was implemented back in 2018 as part of a broader initiative to streamline operations, with the software’s automation capabilities offering reminders for early-stage arrears, to make sure the customers at risk of falling behind on rent were contacted swiftly and efficiently – all the while freeing up income officers to focus on more complex cases.

This system also streamlined the management of high-level arrears cases, enabling immediate follow-up for customers who had received legal notices or court warnings. In this way, Homes in Sedgemoor’s income team were able to handle a larger caseload without the need for additional staff – empowering them to manage their workload more effectively.

For year-end April 2024, HiS arrears rate was at 0.79% – significantly outperforming the industry average. Typically, the arrears rate for similar organisations in the upper quartile sits at 2.11%, while the lower quartile is at 3.99%.

Arrears related evictions reduced from a peak of 19, down to zero in the year ending April 2019, with a total of just 12 evictions across the next 6 years.

Homes in Sedgemoor’s drop in an already impressive arrears rate and reduction in evictions, can be attributed to the increased efficiency and responsiveness provided by Voicescape Collections.

“Interestingly, our arrears weren’t impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, and even through the COVID-19 pandemic we didn’t see a dip in our collection rates. Voicescape is certainly one of the tools that helped us mitigate these events by engaging more with our tenants.” 

Ian Richards, Income Team Leader at Homes in Sedgemoor

Looking ahead, Homes in Sedgemoor plans to keep leveraging Voicescape to manage its caseload and adapt to the changing landscape of housing management as they take their next steps in the local government re-organisation alongside Somerset Council.

 “We know that we couldn’t manage the level of contact we make without Voicescape! We just wouldn’t be able to do what we do. We’d need at least two additional officers to cope with the workload.”

This article was put together with excerpts from an article on the Voicescape website. The full article can be read here Optimising Rent Recovery for Homes in Sedgemoor