There’s been quite a lot of talk in the news of late about the impact of Temporary Accommodation (TA) on councils on their budgets, how and why is this impacting Lambeth and their peers?

It’s definitely a pervasive problem amongst councils and something that has affected Lambeth. TA is a statutory provision, but the tricky part is that most properties are through private landlords, like nightly paid properties, and what councils have to pay for these properties often surpasses the highest subsidy we can claim in benefit for them. This leads to a huge deficit between what we’re spending and what we can reclaim in rental income.

What were the main challenges Lambeth Council faced around TA prior to utilising RentSense?

The main challenges included a high volume of accounts and limited resources – we only had a small team of five officers. They were using manual spreadsheets, which was time-consuming and inefficient, leading to a big backlog of cases and a lack of focus. There was also a lot of movement around TA, with people frequently moving between properties, complicating case management further. Managing these high turnovers manually was almost impossible and often resulted in overlooked cases and high workloads.

What’s the average stay in temporary accommodation for your tenants?

While it varies dramatically, the average stay is around four to five years. Lambeth’s allocations policy is being changed to move people on more quickly, but we’ve had some accounts in TA for over 12 years.

Has there been an increase in the number of people claiming temporary accommodation at Lambeth?

Yes, the numbers are increasing weekly. From April to date, we’ve seen a 5.2% increase in numbers in TA, which equates to an additional 194 current tenants.

How is RentSense integrated into your day-to-day management processes for TA?

Lambeth first used RentSense for our social tenancies and main rents team. This gave us a good understanding of the system. For TA, we built a separate setup with specific rules and our own escalation policy. We moved from being on patches to a patchless TA case list, organised by account balances rather than areas. This allows flexibility and ensures that officers can cover for each other, maintaining high completion rates and efficiency.

Have you seen similar results in the TA sphere compared to the social rents team?

Yes, we have. We’ve adopted targeted campaigns as well, such as encouraging new tenants to set up direct debits or use the online portal. While we have a high percentage of tenants covered by housing benefits, we’ve seen about a 12% increase in online portal usage, which is significant.

Can you discuss tenant engagement and its impact on the tenant experience?

RentSense has improved tenant engagement by ensuring regular contact at least every two weeks. This has led to a significant increase in customer satisfaction, from around 65% to 80%. Regular engagement also means we can signpost tenants to support services more effectively, which has reduced complaints and members’ inquiries related to rents.

What are the main financial benefits to Lambeth after implementing RentSense for TA?

In the most recent financial year, we achieved a year-to-date collection rate of 95.46% for TA residents. We reduced our current debt by over £181,000 and the average arrears per household by £166.51, despite an increase of 604 new accounts.

How do these financial benefits translate to tenant experience?

Improved rent collection processes have enhanced the tenant journey from beginning to end. Tenants find it easier to contact the team and are satisfied with the level of support and communication. This is evidenced by a reduction in complaints related to rents.

What future plans does Lambeth Council have for leveraging RentSense to address ongoing TA challenges?

We’ll continue to focus on automation to reduce manual workload and prioritise cases effectively. We’re also looking at integrating more data from our benefits and social services systems to create a comprehensive view of each tenant, allowing for more targeted campaigns and support. Mobysoft’s continuous updates and new products will help us keep progressing and improving our processes.