Tackling Asset Management Challenges – Repair Backlogs

A large social housing provider recently announced that they were spending nearly £4m to clear a repairs backlog. The backlog grew significantly when resources were diverted to tackle major compliance gaps that came to light.

This goes to illustrate how so many things in social housing property services are connected. Perhaps it also goes to support the old saying that it’s the squeaky wheel that gets all the oil.

Many large social housing providers have repair and maintenance backlogs. Much of this asset management challenge stems from the Covid-19 pandemic and staff shortages as operatives became ill or had to isolate.

There are a few obvious questions at this point. First, is a repair blitz to clear a backlog the most efficient way to work (even if it seems like the only option)? Second, how confident could you be that concentrating resources on one aspect of the asset management challenge isn’t going to lead to a gap elsewhere? Maybe there will always be a squeaky wheel – just not necessarily the same one.

The final question is the most fundamental. How confident could you be that having fixed the repair backlog, it won’t just grow back again – particularly with emerging priorities such as net zero carbon and pressures such as labour shortages and rising material costs?

What’s the Answer?

Some will say property services need to be insourced. Some say outsourcing is the answer. Maybe both are missing the point. In the face of growing and more complex demands, social housing asset management has to, above all, become more strategic. It must also embrace modern information technology, automated workflows and real time data recording.

To be strategic you need data. Strategies built on incomplete or inaccurate data will inevitably be flawed. There will always be unpleasant surprises lurking in the future. You can’t manage or plan what you don’t know about.

Similarly, strategies that can’t be turned into executable plans or clearly communicated aren’t deliverable. Piecemeal approaches to contracting and service delivery make it harder to establish a strategic overview – particularly if every service provider has their own way of storing data.

There are no easy answers to tackling asset management challenges. But solutions have to start with implementing the right systems, tools and processes.  The ultimate aim is to ensure that all tasks are identified and that somebody is clearly accountable for getting them done as cost-efficiently as possible.

For more information about Osborne’s approach to asset management contact Jo Fletcher ([email protected]) or visit our resource centre.