Housing Associations are adapting to change. They are needing to change their processes and procedures in order to fulfil their role in helping people to rent or buy property.
Social landlords adapting to change
Times are changing for social landlords. As well as providing homes to those not in work they are now finding themselves marketing their properties to those in employment. In a lot of cases these are people in paid employment who may find it difficult to rent in the private sector. They may not have enough money for a deposit and rent in advance. This is where some Housing Associations are attracting new tenants for their properties.
The processes and procedures of Housing Associations are changing
It’s not just the fact that social landlords are able to offer their homes to those in employment, but they are also having to adapt their processes and procedures to accommodate would be tenants. People are more demanding of their time nowadays. So how has this affected the way Housing Associations let their homes? Well, they have had to streamline their organisational processes to be able to meet the needs of would be tenants.People aren’t happy about having to fill out a 20 or 30 page form to apply for property. This rarely happens in the private rental sector market. People express interest in a property. If they like it they will view it. If they are interested in applying for it they will say so. Once this has been done there will be credit checks and tenant referencing. On the basis the landlord is happy with the results they will pay their deposit and rent in advance and move in. So a lot less upfront form filling for the individuals.
Choice Based Lettings, the Private Rental Market or a mix of both
This is not to say that Housing Associations aren’t adapting to change. They are. However, there are some leading the way whilst others are still reviewing the need to change their processes and procedures. Some still use the
(CBL) system to rent all their properties. Others are using a mix of CBL and marketing their properties to those who would normally go to Private Landlords or via Estate and Letting Agents. In some cases the CBL scheme isn’t now working for them and they are marketing their available properties themselves.
