Awaab’s Law and Housing Management Systems

Mark Gannon at Netcall explains how housing providers can prepare for new regulations like Awaab’s Law by making small, practical digital changes – without replacing core systems.

New laws like the Social Housing (Regulation) Act and Awaab’s Law are raising the stakes for landlords. You now need to demonstrate not just service delivery, but that tenants genuinely feel heard and protected. And the risks for falling short? Up to £100k per breach, plus reputational and legal fallout.

Social housing providers know the pressure is mounting. With rising tenant expectations, tighter regulations and overstretched teams, the need for better digital services is clear.

But many organisations feel stuck – held back by legacy systems, complex internal processes and fear of the cost or disruption of change.

And for many housing providers, this raises urgent questions:

• Can your current systems keep up?
• Do you need to replace your housing management system (HMS)?
• How do you modernise without major disruption?

The good news? True transformation doesn’t have to start with a system overhaul.

In fact, some of the biggest service improvements come from small, focused steps – reworking a single journey, automating a time-consuming task or giving tenants better ways to self-serve. All without ripping out what you’ve already invested in.

Focus on Outcomes – Not System Replacement

Most housing providers already know what needs to change: faster repairs, fewer complaints, better tenant outcomes and compliance without the scramble. But achieving that can feel out of reach when core systems seem inflexible.

It’s easy to assume that full system replacement is the only route. But that often brings:

• Long procurement timelines
• High implementation costs
• Disruption to services and staff
• And no guarantee of better outcomes.

Instead, focus on the outcomes first. By integrating modern tools, automating high-impact processes and unlocking siloed data, you can redesign how services work around the people who use them. Without starting from scratch.

This isn’t about avoiding investment. It’s about making the right investment. One that delivers change faster, with less risk and real results for your teams and tenants.

Identify and Automate Key Pain Points

Every housing provider has areas where staff time is drained and tenant experience suffers. These are ideal starting points for redesign:

• Manually processing incoming emails and documents
• Delays in triaging damp, mould or repair requests
• Repeated data entry across disconnected systems
• Lack of visibility across complaints, compliance and risk.

Modern automation tools and low-code platforms can handle many of these tasks, quickly and at scale. This doesn’t just improve efficiency. It helps frontline teams focus on human work, not repetitive admin.

Smarter AI That Works With Your HMS

There’s a lot of noise around AI. But in housing, its value lies in helping people work smarter. Not replacing them.

Used well, AI can:

• Extract structured information from emails, PDFs and images
• Identify keywords that indicate risk
• Automate workflows like routing, flagging and status updates.

This kind of intelligent automation helps reduce backlogs, triage cases faster and avoid complaints before they happen. It also improves employee experience to support teams under pressure by removing tedious manual work.

Redesign the Process. Then Add the Right Tech

Technology is a tool, not the starting point. Before investing in new platforms or features, it’s critical to understand:

Technology is a tool, not the starting point. Before investing in new platforms or features, it’s critical to understand:

• What your tenants need now (and next)
• What internal challenges your teams face
• Where data is being duplicated or lost.

Some of the most effective digital transformations start with service design. Mapping out the ideal journey, then using technology to enable it, leads to better outcomes and lower risk.

Every step – from first contact to final resolution – should leave a digital trail. That’s how you build trust with regulators and tenants alike. When your data is clean and connected, compliance becomes the by-product of good service.

And if your current systems or suppliers make integration difficult, it might be time to ask why.

Building Long-Term Resilience

Ultimately, transformation is about creating services that are proactive, connected and ready to evolve. That means:

• Clear data across people and properties
• Workflows that are adaptable, not hard-coded
• Technology that supports teams, not ties them up.

Housing providers don’t have to wait for a major procurement cycle to make progress. Start small, show value and build momentum.

When systems are joined up and teams are supported, tenants feel the difference. And so does your bottom line.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Netcall – View the Original Article

For more information about Netcall - visit the Netcall Website

Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.

Author: Netcall
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson