Platform Housing Group partners with Switchee to drive digital transformation strategy forward
Midlands based Platform Housing Group (PHG) has partnered with social housing data and insights company Switchee to rollout Switchee devices in their residents’ homes. Implementation of IoT (internet of things) technology is part of the group’s digital transformation programme to help improve its offer and service to residents.
Specifically, Platform Housing Group is looking to use Switchee smart thermostat devices to provide real-time data and analytics about the performance of its housing stock, helping to cut maintenance costs and improve resident well-being.
The use of Switchee data and its use in PHG systems (via API) will help to inform decision making and resource deployment around maintenance and flag issues such as damp and condensation mould.
It will also identify where residents may need support. The project forms part of the group’s programme to achieve a minimum EPC C rating (Energy Performance Certificate) in targeted properties by 2028. Installations are being carried out through Switchee’s Trusted Installer Network, which supports Switchee’s housing partners with swift and efficient device rollouts.
The devices will be installed across different types of properties; supported accommodation, properties at risk of condensation, damp and mould and into properties as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. All Switchee smart thermostats will be fitted by the end of March, with Platform Housing Group and Switchee providing full data analysis on an ongoing basis throughout the project and beyond the initial term.
Jonathan Cocker, Chief Information Officer for Platform Housing Group said: “We’re delighted to be working with Switchee to improve the way we help customers in their homes. These devices are just one of the ways we’re investing in technology to achieve energy efficiency in all that we do and benefit the wider UK housing sector.”
Tom Robins, Switchee CEO added: “Utilising technology like Switchee is a game changing for landlords. By enabling them to understand what’s going on in their properties, they can change their operations from reactive to proactive. They can see where their biggest issues are and can deploy resources more efficiently and lower their operating costs.”
Using five sensors, Switchee can understand occupancy and optimise heating settings, saving residents up to 17 per cent on their energy bills. This data is then used to produce a landlord dashboard displaying a range of welfare and maintenance KPIs and alerts such as mould risk, poor insulation, fuel poverty risk, boiler performance and abandonment risk.
The Switchee messaging service allows housing providers to conduct surveys, book in maintenance visits and post announcements directly to the Switchee in-home display. The communications method has an average response rate of over 90 per cent, making it the most reliable communication method in the sector. Switchee works with over 100 Social Housing Providers across the UK.
Platform Housing Group owns and manages 46,000 homes across the Midlands, with a portfolio that includes social and affordable rent and shared ownership houses. Their stock reaches from Herefordshire to Lincolnshire and the Cotswolds to the Derbyshire Dales. Earlier this month, the organisation granted funding to help a local Parish Council in Leicester purchase and install two life-saving defibrillators.
