19th April 2021
Leading Community Housing Providers roll out new cloud-based tenant-management system to improve customer service
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 20th April 2021: Civica, a global leader in software for public services, announces it has signed multi-year Software as a Service (SaaS) agreements with Mission Australia and Christchurch-based Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (ŌCHT), to deliver better tenant insights and improved customer service through Civica’s cloud-based Cx Housing solution.
Following a competitive tender, Mission Australia, a national charity that provides social and affordable rental housing to more than 4,700 residents from low-and moderate-income households, and ŌCHT, a provider of more than 2,300 safe and secure housing properties to low-income earners in New Zealand, have both selected Civica’s Cx Housing and Asset Management platform.
Both Community Housing Providers selected the tenant management system to better provide customer centric services to tenants, streamline service delivery and improve processes throughout the organisation.
Keith Gavin, General Manager, New Business Integration for Mission Australia’s housing team says:
We chose to partner with Civica because not only do they closely align with Mission Australia’s values of integrity, respect, compassion, celebration and perseverance, but they also have a proven track record of expertly managing complex housing management system implementations for Tier 1 Community Housing Providers. They are an innovative market leader delivering vital efficiencies for the social and affordable housing sector.
Home Connect is the cloud-enabled housing management platform that we have implemented to bolster the quality of customer service we provide to our tenants and support us with our goal to ensure people have a safe, secure home and can thrive. The technology seamlessly enables tailoring of our customer support to suit individual tenant needs, managing of tenancies to a high standard, asset management and maintenance, and supports delivery of enriching community development activities for Mission Australia’s growing, planned portfolio of 5,000+ properties" he adds.
Both providers will also have access to a new tenant and contractor portal which will boost the online experience for tenants by introducing self-service capabilities including updating personal information or a change in circumstances, access to information such as account and statements, the lodgement of repairs and other service requests.
James Hadlee, Tenancy Relationship Manager, Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust says,
We wanted to work with a partner who had a proven track-record in the social housing sector and selected Civica Cx Housing. The capabilities demonstrated during the RFP appealed. We sought a product capable of providing streamlined tenancy and property management, a one-stop-shop for work we’d previously performed across a number of platforms.
We need a housing system that allows for a relationship-based way of working. We hope successfully automating transactional elements will give our team more time to work with our tenants, maintaining our focus on achieving sustainable tenancies."
Ben Cowling, Executive Director, Australasia at Civica said:
The focus for many housing organisations has changed and customer needs and service delivery are at the forefront. No longer is the rental property at the core, instead the emphasis lies on the tenant and the delivery of superior levels of service that embody the values of these leading social housing providers, Mission Australia and Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust. We strongly believe that effectively managing relationships in this way with tenants is key to the delivery of service excellence and Cx Housing is designed specifically with this in mind. We are delighted to partner with Mission Australia and Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust to transform their housing services."
Civica works with 400 social housing organisations, serving more than five million customers worldwide. Civica’s Cx Housing solution connects data about residents and properties to help customers deliver the levels of service tenants expect and provides critical capabilities to help social housing teams be as efficient, productive and effective as possible.
ABOUT MISSION AUSTRALIA
Mission Australia is a national Christian charity motivated by a shared vision of an Australia where everyone has a safe home and can thrive. We collaborate with the people we help to tackle the root causes of their challenges through providing access to safe, affordable homes and innovative, evidence-based support services. Every day we deliver homelessness crisis and prevention services, provide social and affordable housing, assist struggling families and children, address mental health issues, fight substance dependencies, support people with disability and much more. We stand together with Australians in need, until they can stand for themselves.
As a Tier 1 Community Housing Provider, Mission Australia owns and runs more than 3,000 social and affordable properties across four states which provide much needed housing for low and moderate income households. The housing team works with support partners including Mission Australia’s Community Services to tailor support services to each tenant’s needs and to help them sustain tenancies.
ABOUT ŌTAUTAHI COMMUNITY HOUSING TRUST
Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust is among the biggest non-government community housing providers in New Zealand. We own, or lease from the Christchurch City Council, more than 2300 homes in greater Christchurch and we have a firm commitment – and an active building programme – to grow and improve the standard of the city’s community housing stock and get those most in need into homes.
Tenants are central to all we do; our holistic delivery model links tenants to the services they need to foster independence and self-determination to help them grow their own, sustainable, tenancies. We are also part of Housing First Christchurch, a collaborative and multi-agency approach to tackling homelessness whose focus is on support and sustainability. Sustainability is important to us; the Trust was established from the council’s need to make community housing economically and socially sustainable, and to help people achieve positive tenancies that work.