By Liam Bentley, Operations Manager for Repairs and Voids, Hillingdon Council
As the Operations Manager for Repairs and Voids at Hillingdon Council, I’m deeply aware of the impact that damp, mould, and condensation (DMC) issues can have on our residents. With about 35,000 to 40,000 repairs each year across a diverse property stock of around 10,000, the challenge of managing these issues is not to be underestimated.
Previously, we had a lack of structure in tracking individual cases of DMC. This made it difficult to conduct targeted interventions, especially considering the various types of properties we manage, each presenting their own unique issues.
That’s when we turned to Oneserve to help us better manage the process. We have used Oneserve since 2019 to manage our repairs and maintenance jobs so we already had experience of customising the software to tackle challenges, particularly to our stock and customer profile. Working with the Oneserve team, we were able to customise the system to specifically allow us to log DMC issues for individual properties and produce data that could help us identify patterns. For example, we can see a prevalence of issues in properties with solid-wall construction. This information is invaluable for us as we adapt our maintenance plans to tackle the root of the problem proactively.
But Oneserve offers more than just tracking capabilities. We’ve customised the workflow within the system to suit our unique requirements, featuring fixed moments in time to guide our inspection and repair processes. We’ve implemented four potential outcomes post-inspection for DMC: ordering works, referring the issue to a third-party surveyor, passing it to tenancy management or determining that no works are required. This level of customisation ensures that we can adapt our workflow to better suit the needs of our residents, allowing the system to evolve with our learning.
Since implementing Oneserve, we’ve seen considerable improvement in how we handle DMC issues. Customising our approach based on property types and resident profiles has led to more effective interventions. The system enables us to not only identify problems but also to track the solutions in real-time. As a result, we’ve experienced greater satisfaction among our residents and fewer complaints overall.
Oneserve has provided us with the flexibility to customise our approach to tackling damp and mould issues based on property type and resident profiles. The system has enabled us to streamline our inspection and repair processes, allowing us to track each case from start to finish. This has led to more effective interventions and greater satisfaction among our residents, without adding additional complexity to our workflow.
By leveraging the capabilities of Oneserve, we’re continually refining our approach to manage DMC issues as we continually aim to provide better homes for all our residents.
