The first PropertyLab sprint, now all wrapped up, brought with it a collaborative, hyper-innovative approach to compliance within the housing sector - culminating in a report and a prototype, developed alongside 10 housing organisations in the nation. Here's how it all happened.

People, process and technology go well together. To get the most out of an innovation project, any solution must consider all of them. That's what inspired the challenge at the heart of the first PropertyLab sprint - focused on getting compliance right across the sector. We wanted to transform current approaches to compliance certification. And to find opportunities for automation within the whole process.

We believe that the key to innovation is diversity. Contrasting challenges and differing perspectives. That’s why, when building the cohort for the first sprint, we reached out to existing partners and new landlords across the UK. We received over 70 applications to the programme, picking 10 organisations to be a part of our pilot. 

Our cohort featured landlords large and small. Housing associations who were solely socially focused. Those with specialist remits. And those who leaned more towards traditional residential lets too. 

Over a period of 14 weeks, we drew extensively on innovation best practice and a range of design thinking frameworks - from the famed Double Diamond (favoured by the likes of IBM, Starbucks, Ford and Nike), to Clayton Christensen's Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework. These were supported holistically by principles like Nudge and Nielsen's Law. The whole process was virtually accomplished using Zoom and Mural, when coronavirus forced us to move our innovation workshop to the cloud.

Joining forces with our pioneering first cohort, and armed with all the right tools, we undertook an unprecedented deep-dive into systemic challenges for managing asset compliance. We uncovered challenges across operations, customer service, IT and procurement. Without our cohort’s  generosity and support, such a comprehensive approach would simply not have been possible.

Many interviews highlighted a need for better data transparency.

To break down siloed compliance operations.

And to integrate systems and data.

There was a feeling from our cohort that housing and compliance data could be more up to date and more accurate. And that creating a one system solution for all areas of compliance, across both contractors and landlords operations could radically improve efficiency and tenant safety.

The result of this work is a single product solution for compliance. We believe this revolutionary approach will empower operational teams to reduce costs and create better services than ever before. Watch it in action here.

Join our upcoming webinar to get a more in-depth look at the whole process. We'll share in-depth learnings from the cohort. We'll discuss how organisations are using tech to streamline their operations. And give you a first-look at a revolutionary new approach to FRAs and compliance management for housing, built in tandem with the industry.

You'll get the chance to dive into insights on how leading housing providers tackle compliance, the challenges they face and opportunities to transform it through the accompanying PropertyLab report - available for free to those who sign up.

Sign up here to get exclusive early access to the report and more information on our next sprint.