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The social housing sector can learn about customer service from Build to Rent operators
Having worked in both sectors, I believe social housing providers could learn about customer service from their counterparts in the Build to Rent world, writes Manpreet Dillon
Build to Rent (BTR) development is becoming an increasingly important sector as it provides mid-market housing in our cities.
Developments usually have on-site teams delivering high-quality, often 24/7 services with a range of communal amenities, such as bookable cinema rooms, dining suites, gyms, communal lounges and roof terraces. Rents tend to include high speed wi-fi and access to all amenity spaces, with some additional charges for bookable spaces.
Delivering high-quality homes and professionally managed services is key to the business model that relies heavily on customer retention, renewals and the ability to sustainably increase rents in line with long-term rental projections.
Reputation is as key as delivering value for money for customers as competition in the sector increases.
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I recently finished working for Grainger, one of the market leaders in the BTR sector with around 9,000 homes in management and a similar number in the pipeline, and I’m hoping that sharing my thoughts and observations can be helpful in meeting the new and emerging agenda for housing associations.
Grainger, currently the RESI Residential Landlord of the Year, is the leading provider of BTR homes across the country. It also includes Grainger Trust, its for-profit registered provider.
“Understanding customers and their priorities is key to responding quickly to changing demands and markets”
So what can social housing providers learn from the BTR sector?
Property compliance and health and safety is centre stage at Grainger through its in-house Live.Safe programme, with governance oversight being intense and well-informed. Detailed reports on every action generated from compliance audits are reviewed at the board and regular deep dives are undertaken by the chair and chief executive.
This is as much of a priority as is delivering a pipeline of new homes to the value of around £2.1bn.
My experience within the housing association sector is that far too often this level of scrutiny is delegated to sub-committees, with main boards receiving ‘strategic’ reports and updates on the ‘direction of travel’. Is this really the way to deliver the culture change in the sector needing to improve building safety and compliance?
Understanding customers and their priorities is key to responding quickly to changing demands and markets. While social housing providers experiment with metrics such as a net promoter score, which is currently being phased out by leading service providers in the private sector, those involved in the BTR sector are focusing on ease of access and trust ratings as well as touchpoint surveys to better understand customer expectations and deliver against these.
Interestingly, metrics are analysed at a local level and close attention is paid to verbatim feedback, as well as trend analysis, to inform business decisions. How often do housing associations look at their feedback on a street, block, scheme or officer level?
From the outside looking in, it appears that most housing associations still lack interest in online reviews, such as Google, Trust Pilot and All Agents, and have a mixed approach of how these are responded to and acknowledged.
Responses to online reviews, which are often a call for help, range from being completely ignored to rather patronising responses that are along the lines of “your feedback is important to us…” regardless of the issues being raised by customers that already feel like no one is listening.
“Often it is not what you spend on services, but the impact you want to have on the customer”
A quick Google search of household names in the social housing sector shows that most have ratings of one to two stars. For most businesses, this would simply not be acceptable. How can this go largely ignored for organisations that provide some of the most basic yet essential services?
Culture is key. A phrase often heard in the BTR sector is how do you “exceed customer expectations?” How often do those in the social housing sector hear, “we need to be managing customer expectations?” Most BTR operators work with similar financial models to the social housing sector. Often it is not what you spend on services, but the impact you want to have on the customer.
My final observation relates to diversity. I was surprised on my first day at Grainger to see that the senior leadership team I was joining was the most diverse I had ever been a part of. And this was a result of seeking out the best people with different ideas and experience.
In contrast, ‘leaders’ in the social housing sector are finally acknowledging that for too long they have tried to recruit in their own image. It’s brought back some painful memories for me. Those signing various pledges won’t remember or understand how they made me feel by making assumptions that I worked for a BAME housing association or only ever considered me suitable to sit on BAME housing association boards.
I can’t wait to join Hightown and work with the teams and residents on how we move the dial and start exceeding expectations.
Manpreet Dillon, director of housing, Hightown
