This project sees DLUHC take a critical technology stewardship role in fixing UK social housing management systems. Acting as convenors, funding discovery work and staffing an in-house team, they have diagnosed the systemic challenges causing social housing providers to use suboptimal technology. They are now co-designing interventions with local authorities, housing associations, suppliers and others. Their goal is to cut across organisational silos that have caused the industry to become dependent on siloed systems, and to identify corrective measures. Over the last 12 months, they’ve started to identify and co-design data interventions with those who’ll have to use them. They’re working on the open at bit.ly/opentools4housing and are on course to help housing services adopt modern, resilient data infrastructure. This will help services to understand the state of their housing stock, better meet residents’ needs, and plan resources based on accurate information.

This approach is unique from a Governance perspective: DLUHC observed that without some strategic stewardship, pulling together stakeholders from Central Government, councils, housing associations, technology suppliers and social service providers, the market will continue to evolve too slowly to prevent continued tragedies caused by poorly maintained buildings, efficient forward planning and reduction of wait lists, and roll out of vital net zero infrastructure. Using its convening power and funding, it has acted as the convener the country needed to change how the social services data ecosystem works. Recognising them with this award will reinforce the need to continue owning this and other cross sector challenges, and to hold course for the time it takes to test, learn, implement and realise the benefits of fit-for-purpose data infrastructure for UK housing.