Home Connections Expands into the Damp, Mould, and Insulation Sector Through New Partnership with DampSmart
Home Connections and DampSmart – formally known as Awaretag – are proud to announce an exciting new partnership, offering a smarter way to tackle damp and mould.
With this strategic alliance, Home Connections aims to expand its services to address the damp, mould and insulation challenges impacting its partner landlords and their tenants. With over 100 housing providers already relying on Home Connections’ systems, the partnership has the potential to positively impact hundreds of thousands of homes across the country.
The new standards in the Renters’ Rights Bill under Awaab's Law emphasise the need for more data-driven and cost-efficient solutions that support social landlords with meeting strict timeframes and taking a proactive approach to repairs. Commenting on the latest report from the Housing Ombudsman where over 100 severe maladministration cases on damp and mould have been revealed, Richard Blakeway said: “Throughout these cases landlord inspections are revealed as limited or repeated because of poor records before action is taken, with living conditions deteriorating during these delays.”
Together, Home Connections and DampSmart share the goal of revolutionising the repairs and maintenance sector, making damp and mould management easier and more tenant-focused for social housing providers.
Key Benefits of Home Connections and DampSmart Partnership:
- Lower Maintenance Costs Through Preventive Care: Early detection and reliable insights help reduce the need for emergency repairs and avoidable redress, enabling better budgeting and allocation of resources.
- Data-Driven Decision-Making Across Properties: With centralized, actionable data on building performance, landlords can make better-informed decisions across their vast database of properties.
- Easy and Non-Intrusive Installation: Quick-to-install, reusable sensors grade all aspects of a home in one visit, with no equipment cost or disruption to tenants’ lives, reducing operational burden.
- Compliance with New Standards: Working with social housing providers to proactively meet new requirements under Awaab’s Law in the Renters’ Rights Bill.
- Comprehensive Information Hub: Expert guidance for housing staff across departments on damp and mould-related issues, as well as practical advice for tenants on making the home more energy efficient.
DampSmart’s cutting-edge sensors provide a comprehensive diagnosis of the insulation, ventilation, and heating performance of a home, including identification of damp sources, condensation risk, insulation quality, energy efficiency and ventilation performance. Beyond the analysis, DampSmart helps social landlords understand the immediate and long-term needs of a property for better planning of repairs and retrofits.
Ninesh Muthiah, CEO of Home Connections said:
“Damp and mould in rental properties present both a public health concern and a costly maintenance challenge. With the Renters’ Rights Bill raising standards for tenant health and safety, our partnership with DampSmart delivers a smarter, cost-effective solution that helps prevent delays and keeps tenants’ well-being at the forefront.”
Leonard Carey, CEO of Aware Technologies said:
“We are excited to partner with Home Connections as they lead the way in transforming the social housing experience. Together, we will introduce a new era of smarter diagnosis and resolution of damp, mould and heating efficiency issues delivering value and peace of mind to both landlords and tenants.”
If you’re interested in piloting the service or to find out more, please contact ninesh.muthiah@home-connections.co.uk and leonard@awaretag.com.
A year after relaunch: StreetLink's impact and vision ahead
As we look back on the developments since the relaunch of StreetLink on 30th September 2023, we are proud of the strides made in making it easier for people to help individuals sleeping rough and for individuals to get help for themselves. It’s important, however, to outline our ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness - with over 3,800 people estimated to be sleeping rough on any given night, it’s clear there’s still much work to be done. Our focus remains steadfast on enhancing services and support for individuals sleeping rough. We understand the complexities of homelessness and are determined to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those in need.
A year of progress
Since launching our enhanced platform on 30 September 2023, StreetLink has processed over 100,000 alerts, successfully connecting nearly 16,000 individuals with vital support services. This represents a success rate of approximately 21% across 323 active local authorities. Notably, 83% of alerts were made by members of the public, demonstrating the community's commitment to helping those in need. We have consistently achieved above 90% H-CLIC returns, which highlights our dedication to providing accurate and timely data to inform our efforts in combating homelessness. The introduction of features such as real-time messaging and an automated H-CLIC compliance checker has significantly improved the user experience, enabling us to respond effectively to alerts and streamline our operations. Our agile approach to development has allowed us to adapt swiftly to user needs and feedback, ensuring the platform remains effective and accessible.
Collaborative partnerships
This year has also seen the strengthening of our partnerships with organisations dedicated to supporting individuals experiencing homelessness. Our collaboration with StreetVet and Street Paws has enabled us to better serve individuals sleeping rough with pets or animal companions by allowing users to indicate this during the alert process. This improvement ensures that no one, whether human or animal, is left behind.
Geographic differences and challenges
Our discussions with outreach teams highlighted significant geographic differences in system functionality. Outside of London, there is a strong desire for StreetLink to enhance case management capabilities, enabling local authorities to move away from spreadsheets and other offline systems. In London, we have initiated successful pilot programmes to improve the triage process, granting outreach teams direct access to alerts, which was rolled out across the city in April 2024. We have learned that integrating technology into daily operations can help outreach teams find and assist individuals sleeping rough more efficiently. By continually seeking feedback and insights from the field, we aim to refine our approach and better meet the needs of those we serve.
Strengthening services through feedback
Our commitment to continuous improvement remains strong. We have listened to feedback from outreach teams, local authorities, and the public to make impactful changes. Recent enhancements include:
- Improved duplicate alert process: Streamlined to reduce confusion and ensure efficiency in handling multiple reports about the same individual.
- Enhancements to the public referral form: Made more user-friendly to facilitate quicker and more accurate submissions.
- Public knowledge hub: A comprehensive resource aimed at educating the public on how to use StreetLink effectively and understand its purpose.
Additionally, we are excited to announce the launch of our educational social media campaign series, which is now live. This initiative aims to help the public understand what makes a good quality alert when reporting individuals sleeping rough. The campaign sheds light on the purpose of StreetLink and highlights the crucial work undertaken by local authorities and outreach teams in finding and assisting those in need. Resources from the campaign are also available for download in the Public Knowledge Hub, enabling the community to access valuable information easily. By improving the quality of information in alerts, we hope to ensure that individuals sleeping rough can be located and supported more quickly.
Local authority perspectives
As Tom Polhill from Chichester District Council noted,
“StreetLink enables a rapid response to street homeless and allows the outreach team to engage individuals to ensure there is ‘no second night out.’ Engagement with the community is a high priority for Chichester District Council. StreetLink provides an opportunity for everyone to play a part in tackling homelessness.”
This sentiment reflects our shared commitment to collaboration and community involvement in addressing homelessness.
Looking ahead
As we move forward, our dedicated support team remains committed to addressing the queries and needs of our users and the public. To build on the success of this project, future plans include:
- AI integration: Introducing artificial intelligence to predict rough sleeping trends and enhance early intervention.
- Continuous feedback: Engaging with rough sleepers and service providers regularly to refine and improve the system.
- Holistic support system: Continuing to work with our partners and expand our community to offer comprehensive support.
- Mental health and addiction support: Ensuring outreach workers can connect rough sleepers to support services based on their specific needs, promoting long-term stability.
- Employment and skills training: Providing job training and access to employment opportunities to help rough sleepers reintegrate into society.
Wider plans also include collaborating with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on other rough sleeping initiatives, such as the Vulnerability Assessment pilot. The mission to end homelessness is ongoing, and we invite local authorities, outreach teams, and the public to join us in this collective effort. By reporting individuals sleeping rough via StreetLink and indicating if pets are present, we can work together to ensure that every person has access to the support they need.
Conclusion
The one-year anniversary of the StreetLink relaunch is not just a milestone; it is a testament to our collective efforts and commitment to creating lasting change. We look forward to building on this foundation, learning from our experiences, and striving for a future where homelessness is a thing of the past. For more information on how to get involved or to report rough sleeping effectively, please visit thestreetlink.org.uk.
StreetLink partners with StreetVet and Street Paws to better support individuals sleeping rough and their pets
On August 17th, we recognised International Homeless Animals Day, which highlighted the urgent need to address the challenges faced by millions of animals living without a home or access to medical care. These animals are often vulnerable and in need of essential support and protection.
For many experiencing homelessness, their pets are a crucial source of companionship and comfort. However, accessing veterinary care and pet-friendly accommodations can be extremely challenging while living on the streets. In response, StreetLink, StreetVet, and Street Paws have partnered to provide the necessary care and support for both homeless individuals and their animal companions.
Identifying individuals with pets through StreetLink
StreetLink’s mission is to connect individuals sleeping rough across England and Wales with the vital support services they need. It does this by enabling members of the public and those sleeping rough to submit an alert.
A key part of this collaborative approach is StreetLink's enhanced online platform, which now allows the public and individuals sleeping rough to indicate if they have a pet or animal companion when self-referring for support services. This addition enables StreetLink to quickly identify situations where an individual and their animal may require support from StreetVet or Street Paws.
Working alongside StreetVet
StreetVet, a national charity which is also a registered veterinary practice has helped care for more than 2,800 pets across the UK. StreetVet provides free essential veterinary care and services directly to the pets of those experiencing homelessness. Their team of over 600 volunteer vets and nurses take the practice to the pavement and have performed more than 10,200 consultations. They provide check-ups, vaccinations, microchipping, preventative care, and also supply daily pet essentials like food, harnesses, collars and toys. If a pet needs more complex treatment or surgery, StreetVet will get the pet booked into a veterinary practice and cover the costs.
StreetVet also operates the StreetVet Accredited Hostel Scheme, working with temporary accommodation providers across the UK to make more hostels pet-friendly. For any organisation that joins the scheme, StreetVet helps with pet policies, an e-learning platform for hostel staff as well as providing free veterinary care and services and daily pet essentials to StreetVet registered pets in those establishments.
Through this collaboration, when an individual sleeping rough self-refers via StreetLink's digital platform and indicates they have a pet in need their alert is also sent to StreetVet for their clinical team to investigate, to ensure the animal receives any necessary treatment. This collaborative approach allows us to address the interconnected needs of individuals and their pets.
Joining forces with Street Paws
Since its inception in 2016 Street Paws has worked directly with pet owners experiencing homelessness to change the way they access services and ensure no one is forced to choose between their pet and a safe place to sleep. Their outreach work allowed them to understand the larger needs of homeless pet owners, leading them to pioneer the Dog Champion Scheme; partnering with hostels to support them in becoming pet friendly.
Led by the needs of their clients, Street Paws offers free veterinary treatment and training to encourage responsible pet ownership. They provide check-ups, vaccinations, microchipping, preventative care, as well as essential pet supplies. Any pet registered to the Dog Champion Scheme will be able to access one to one support from the Street Paws team who can arrange more involved veterinary treatment at no cost when needed.
Street Paws recognises the need to help change the system not just treat the symptom. Their team are on hand to signpost clients to support services and assist homeless pet owners to find accommodation, thus breaking the homelessness cycle.
Street Paws operates across the North of England and will receive alerts from StreetLink's self-referral option when a pet owner experiencing homelessness is referred. This connection to Street Paws' resources, empowers individuals to access the services they need in addition to vital vet care.
A collaborative approach to a complex issue
By combining StreetLink, StreetVet and Street Paws efforts, we’re taking a major step towards providing comprehensive support for individuals and pets living on the streets. We understand that the challenges of homelessness are complex and require multifaceted solutions.
These new partnerships will allow us to holistically address the diverse needs of this vulnerable population in a more effective and compassionate manner.
We invite local authorities, outreach teams and the general public to join us in this collective effort by reporting individuals sleeping rough via our digital platform and indicating if a pet is present.
Together, we can ensure that no person or pet is left behind on the path out of homelessness and towards stability.
For more information on how to get involved or to learn about reporting rough sleeping effectively, please visit thestreetlink.org.uk
Thames Reach's mission to end rough sleeping in London
In this insightful contribution, Charley Matthews, manager of the Thames Reach City of London Outreach team, shares the profound work being done in partnership with StreetLink to support individuals experiencing rough sleeping.
I’m Charley Matthews, the manager of the Thames Reach City of London Outreach team. Our team works to support people who are sleeping rough in the City of London (‘the Square Mile’) to find accommodation and bring an end to their homelessness. We carry out shifts on the streets every day of the year, identifying people who need our help and offering them a route off the streets as quickly as possible.
Identification and verification
There are two main strands to our work: our shifts and our ongoing casework. Our shifts either run in the early morning or in the late evening, so that we are meeting people at the place where they are sleeping. During these shifts we are often responding to referrals we have received from StreetLink, visiting sites where members of the public or local partners have seen people sleeping rough. When we meet someone, we ask them some questions to assess what support they might need and what the quickest route to housing would be for them.
The process of an Outreach team meeting someone bedded down as rough sleeping is called ‘verification’. This gives someone a profile on the Pan-London rough sleeping database, CHAIN. There are some resources and accommodation options that are reserved for people who are verified as rough sleepers.
Meeting the individual’s needs
When someone is rough sleeping in the City of London they are allocated to a worker in our team. The professional works with the person to identify a housing solution that works for them and supports them to access other services that might be preventing them from accessing or sustaining accommodation. We work closely with a wide range of partners including those in mental health, employment, drug & alcohol support, immigration advice, & primary health. A significant part of our work includes supporting people to navigate the paperwork for welfare benefits, access to banking, and obtaining identification.
The individuals we support have a diverse range of backgrounds and needs. Some have become homeless due to precarious employment breaking down and only require brief support to regain stability. For others their homelessness is more long-term and has its roots in adverse childhood experiences, resulting in a frequently complex picture of overlapping support needs which can make it very difficult for them to access housing and support. Particularly for this group, often a number of failed attempts to support the person have already been made by different agencies over their life, for example by social services, health teams, or other outreach teams. Understandably, this can leave the person feeling let down by support services, and unwilling to trust a new team to succeed in supporting their change where others have failed.
Sometimes, individuals referred to StreetLink might initially be hesitant to work with us. This can be for various reasons, including their readiness to accept help, their preference for resources or shelter, mental health challenges, or unique personal circumstances. However, once we know that someone is sleeping rough, we continue to return and offer our support, having clear and honest conversations about what their quickest route away from the streets will be. We change this route if a person's needs change, and we never close a case for a person who is actively rough sleeping.
We try our best to work with people in a way which puts them at the centre of their own support. This means that when we’re working, we’re responding to the person in front of us, and tailoring our work to what each person wants and needs.
What success looks like
As a team, we’re very busy, usually working with 90-100 individuals at a time. Success for us comes in lots of different ways: it can be supporting a someone into emergency accommodation as soon as they’ve been verified, or it can be supporting someone else return to and resettle in a location or community where they have a network of support.
The vital role of StreetLink
StreetLink is at the core of our work. It allows us to identify and locate people who need our support in a rapid and efficient way. The more detail a referrer can put into their referral in terms of location and identifying information, the more likely that we as a team are able to find them.
Help us make a difference
Rough sleeping in the City of London has been increasing, as it has been across the UK, as the housing crisis deepens housing becomes more difficult to access and more precarious. Outreach teams often act as the support service of last resort. Using StreetLink is a great way for you to participate in our work, and to support people who are sleeping rough to get rapid and personalised help. If you’d like to find out more about the work that we do, you can join us as a volunteer on our Outreach shifts by volunteering with Thames Reach here: https://thamesreach.org.uk/support-us/volunteer/.
Home Connections will be exhibiting at CIH Scotland's Housing Festival 2024
We are excited to announce, Home Connections will be exhibiting once again at this year's CIH Scotland's Housing Festival!
Scotland's biggest housing event has been reimagined so that housing professionals from across Scotland and the UK can come together for thought-provoking sessions with plenty of innovation and collaboration. You can see the full programme here.
CIH Scotland's Housing Festival 2024
Date: 05-06 March 2024
Location: SEC Glasgow, Exhibition Way, Glasgow, G3 8YW
Time: 08:30 - 16:00
Already a CIH member? Secure your free place: https://www.cih.org/events/shf-2024
Where can you find Home Connections?
You’ll find us at Stand 28. Come and visit Home Connections to discuss the current housing challenges facing the sector and how we can collaborate to ensure your housing system is able to meet these challenges head-on, through flexibility and high functionality.
Can you #CrackTheCode?
Visit us at Stand 28 to have a chance to win an Instax Mini Link Smartphone Printer or an Echo Pop Smart Speaker With Alexa!
All you need to do is guess the unique combination code to open the safe and unlock one of the prizes.
Home Connections & LocalGov Drupal: Doing more with less
We are in a digital age where government organisations are under increasing pressure to provide efficient and transparent services. At Home Connections, we have relaunched 35 websites, powered by Drupal LocalGov, embodying the theme of "doing more with less"
LocalGov Drupal, a content management system tailored specifically for the public sector, equips organisations with a robust platform that enhances communication, collaboration, and accessibility.
Home Connections, a leading non-profit software solutions provider and social enterprise uses this CMS for all the websites it develops, manages and maintains for housing associations, local authorities and public organisations.
Home Connection’s decision to work with Drupal LocalGov is a strategic move towards achieving higher levels of efficiency and cost-effectiveness in delivering services. The built-in capabilities of Drupal LocalGov mean that developers spend less time on the basics and more time implementing custom features.
By choosing Drupal LocalGov, our customers can not only improve their services but also set an example for other public bodies looking to optimise their digital presence in a budget-conscious world.
Cost-effective solutions
In the face of budget constraints and the ever-present need to make the best use of resources, the LocalGov Drupal allows the public sector to "do more with less."
With its open-source nature, LocalGov Drupal eliminates the need for costly licensing fees and reduces ongoing maintenance expenses. This cost-effective approach ensures that resources can be allocated where needed, such as improving public services and infrastructure.
Accessibility
One of the primary benefits of LGD is its commitment to accessibility
All our websites are designed with inclusivity in mind, ensuring that information and services are available to everyone, regardless of their abilities or the devices they use. This inclusive approach not only complies with legal standards but also reflects each organisation's dedication to serving all citizens.
Robust security and compliance
Security and data privacy are paramount for the public sector. LocalGov Drupal places a strong emphasis on security, providing the necessary tools and features to safeguard sensitive information.
Compliance with data protection regulations is made easier, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring the public's trust is maintained. These features are at the core of LocalGov Drupal, allowing development teams to spend time on other key priorities.
Simple content management
The LocalGov framework simplifies content management, enabling our customers to keep their websites up-to-date and relevant. LocalGov's intuitive content editing tools make it easier than ever to ensure that the public has access to the latest information, policies, and resources.
Sustainability
Our commitment extends to environmental sustainability. By adopting the LocalGov Drupal we help contribute to a greener future. The open-source nature of Drupal minimises the environmental footprint associated with proprietary software development. In addition, the framework's efficiency helps reduce server loads and energy consumption.
Visit our latest website to launch, Crown Estate Scotland
Explore all of our LocalGov Drupal-powered customer websites.
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