Compliance in social housing is more than ticking boxes; it’s about protecting tenants’ wellbeing and ensuring that every resident is safe in their homes. As the UK social housing climate changes and tenants' expectations rise, the discussion around compliance has never been more urgent.
To help move this discussion forward, we co-hosted a joint talk at ASCP 2025 between Platform Housing's Philip Trickett and Peter Hudson from Voicescape. The aim? To show how housing associations can leverage our Compliance engagement solution to tackle the sector’s most persistent challenges and boost compliance results. This conference was the perfect opportunity to discuss what Voicescape Compliance is and how, when applied with the right digital engagement strategy for tenants, it can transform access rates in social housing.
In this blog post, we’ll similarly explain these points in-depth, and we’ll look at how Platform Housing achieved their impressive results with our Compliance engagement solution. With shared insights into how other housing providers can apply the same methods, you too can close the compliance gap and connect with your tenants and communities.
Contents:
- No-access rate challenges: What’s the problem and the solution?
- Voicescape Compliance: What is it?
- How is tenant disengagement monitored and solved?
- Implementing a compliance solution with Platform Housing: The results
- Vital advice to housing providers struggling with compliance issues
- Take the next steps towards 100% compliance
No-access rate challenges: What’s the problem and the solution?
Access rates are a significant challenge in the housing sector, so it’s crucial to understand how housing associations can best boost engagement with residents.
Platform Housing were no stranger to high levels of no-access for essential compliance checks such as gas and electrical safety. At one point, their no-access rate for Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs) was around 40%, and 31-32% for gas and inspections, across a stock of approximately 40,000-45,000 properties. Each missed tenant engagement opportunity came at a cost of a minimum of £50 per visit, just for the operative’s time. This figure doesn’t factor in the administrative overhead, legal support, and time required by housing officers to follow up and re-engage with tenants.
The downstream effect is significant – not just for frontline operatives who waste valuable time, but also for Platform Housing’s back-office teams who spend 15-20 minutes per case on follow-up and rescheduling. When you multiply that effort across thousands of properties, the resource drain becomes considerable.
It was clear that Platform Housing needed to focus on raising tenant engagement to address the problem.
Common challenges encountered:
- Tenants are deprioritising infrequent checks like EICRs, as they sometimes occur only every couple of years
- Language or accessibility barriers – Voicescape’s solution can tailor its messaging to customers’ native language if needed
- Traditional communications fail to prompt action, and wasted time is costly
Voicescape’s response:
To overcome these challenges, Voicescape helped Platform Housing implement the right tenant engagement strategy, which included:
- Multi-channel reminders (SMS, email, and voice calls) for booking, confirming and rescheduling safety appointments
- Personalised and automated messaging
- Data-driven identification of high-risk or disengaged tenants
- Proactive follow-ups combining digital and human interaction
These tools, paired with a tried-and-tested digital engagement strategy, increased Platform Housing’s first-time access and enabled 100% compliance across gas and electrical safety inspections.
Voicescape Compliance: What is it?
Voicescape Compliance utilises digital tools and communications to help compliance teams maintain meaningful connections with their communities. More specifically, it supports officers in engaging effectively with tenants to reduce no-access.
Our solution uses multi-channel contact methods and predictive data systems to prioritise outreach and automation, reducing officers’ caseloads while increasing their availability to contact vulnerable tenants. With compliance teams able to perform at a consistent rate, the technology allows teams to connect with the tenants who really need it and still offer the necessary human touch.
How is tenant disengagement monitored and solved?
One major advantage of our compliance solution is the ability to identify non-engaged tenants quickly and use tailored interventions for those individuals. Platform Housing used this feature to accurately reach out to disengaged tenants who needed the reminder.
Voicescape’s solution can also send reminders using SMS, emails and additional voice prompts to ensure that appointments are top of mind for typically disengaged tenants who are flagged on the system (with opportunity for them to accept or reschedule).
With Voicescape’s outlined engagement methods, it’s about using data not only to solve problems but to prevent tenant disengagement in future cycles. This supported Platform Housing’s wider goal of achieving 100% social housing compliance, not just the industry norm of 98% with mitigations.
Our service feature spotlight: Approaching disengagement
Voicescape Compliance offers housing providers:
- Trend tracking – for frequent no-access residents or vulnerable households, enabling you to adjust the digital strategy accordingly
- Customisable messaging – that can alter depending on the at-risk tenant’s reaction or behaviour
- Flexible appointment reminders with further opportunities to reschedule – for example, Platform Housing may follow up on a letter with an automated call:
Example: “Hello, this is Platform Housing. Your gas inspection is scheduled for the 5th of June at 10 am. Press 1 to confirm or 9 to reschedule.”
However, there is still an option to customise further, depending on the urgency, if multiple rescheduling reminders are not working for tenants who have become severely disengaged.
These features are all about reducing friction and increasing the chance that, when your operatives arrive, someone is actually home. It’s an effective approach which has ultimately led to much success for Platform Housing.
Vital advice to housing providers struggling with compliance issues
What is Platform Housing’s key advice to housing providers? "Remain curious."
Tenant expectations are evolving with new software solutions. They’re used to seamless communication with delivery firms and service providers like Amazon, so why not here also? It’s time for the social housing sector to meet those expectations, not just with regulatory letters but with proactive communication. Evolving with the rate of new technology is critical for your compliance success and customer experience.
“Voicescape, for us, is one of those vital tools that I can’t see us ever doing without now.” – Philip Trickett, Head of Heating & Compliance at Platform Housing Group
Take the next steps towards 100% compliance
For Platform Housing, this approach to boosting compliance and engagement has been transformational. They and other housing providers are now exploring ways to expand this digital engagement approach to other areas, such as responsive repairs or bundling gas and electrical appointments together for greater efficiency.
When it comes to compliance, it’s not about overhauling everything but about adapting for the minority who need a different approach – and that’s where facilitating digital engagement with Voicescape’s solution can really add value.
Interested in learning more about how Platform Housing is leveraging Voicescape Compliance? Read their full case study, or schedule a conversation with us to see how we can incorporate this approach into your strategy.
Editor's note: We are also thrilled to announce that we took home Best Supplier to the Social Housing Sector 2025 at the ASCP Conference Awards. This is a huge achievement for us as a company and proof that our intelligent communication solutions are both impactful and award-winning.