Why UK social housing is leading the way on AI

Residents in the social housing sector are becoming more demanding and industry experts forecast that in the next few years they will be expecting the following as standard:

• Services to be more personalised
• Instant responses with no queuing
• 24/7 Customer Service
• Self-service to be more prevalent
• Broader range of communication channels

Housing providers will have to respond to those needs and technology will be the driver for this. However social housing has never been known for its early adoption of new technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and service automation technology, including chatbots and virtual assistants, is providing the means to enable the social housing sector to keep pace with the digital revolution and develop a feasible digital strategy.

Why Does Housing Need To Transform?

But why do we think there is such an urgent need for digital transformation in housing? More millennials and Gen Z are entering the housing market - looking for affordable housing. They are also the generations least likely to be a homeowner. Add in the fact that the use of the internet is rising, with even the older generation being tech savvy and having access to smartphone and other mobile devices.

How Can Housing Get A Quick Win With AI?

The simple answer is Chatbots, Virtual Assistants, Voice Assistants and Digital Humans which behave as virtual customer service advisors and are available through messaging and social channels, answer your voice calls and can be face to face. In any AI journey organisations need to prioritise projects based on the best return on investment. Virtual advisors are a cost-effective, simple way to meet resident expectations.

Virtual advisors can:

● Serve residents 24/7

● Be easily deployed on multiple channel and platforms - online and mobile

● Engage in human-like conversations

● Be trained to understand specific user intents/topics and actions

● Automate frequently asked questions and more complex workflows

● Execute transactions

● Provide personalised responses

● Seamlessly handoff to human agents with context and history

Why should housing associations use AI?

Like other organisations, social housing providers are facing increasing demand for their services at a time of intense financial pressure. AI enables organisations to use their limited resources more effectively and improve how they deliver services.  Read our case study of ForHousing to find out the benefits they are already seeing after starting their AI journey.

Be part of the revolution

So if you are looking to make yourself stand out amongst social housing providers, contact us or call us on 0333 6000 360 to find out how you can be a front runner in the AI revolution.