By Martin Radbourne, Senior Business Intelligence Manager, CHIC
“Data rich but intelligence poor” is a phrase that comes up repeatedly across the social housing sector and for good reason.
Most organisations are not short of data. In fact, many landlords are surrounded by it. They have data on repairs, voids, building performance (and safety), stock condition, energy ratings, resident satisfaction, complaints, financial performance and neighbourhood profiling, as well as access to multiple publicly available data sources. The challenge is not about collecting information but in turning that information into something useful.
Too often, systems operate in silos, reporting is retrospective rather than proactive and procurement information sits separately from operational decision making. As a result, organisations can find themselves with huge volumes of information but very little visibility into what is actually happening across their supply chain or asset management programmes.
At a time when housing providers are under increasing financial pressure, expected to deliver ambitious sustainability targets and facing growing scrutiny around compliance and resident outcomes, that lack of visibility becomes a real operational risk.
Procurement Data is Becoming Increasingly Important
This is where the conversation around procurement data is becoming more important across the sector.
For years, materials procurement and labour for service delivery have typically been bundled together under traditional contracting arrangements. While there are understandable reasons for this approach, it can make it difficult to properly understand material usage, benchmark pricing, monitor product performance or identify long term efficiencies.
Separating materials procurement from labour gives organisations a far clearer picture of what they are actually spending, what products are being used and how procurement decisions are influencing operational performance.
That level of visibility matters.
It allows landlords to standardise specifications, improve stock control, reduce waste, strengthen governance and make more informed decisions around lifecycle costing and sustainability. It also creates far better procurement intelligence, helping organisations move beyond simply reacting to issues and towards more strategic planning.
Importantly, it is not about creating additional administration. It is about creating better operational insight.
This is exactly the thinking behind CHIC’s upcoming Merchants Framework, which has been developed to give members greater visibility, control and intelligence across their materials supply chain. By helping organisations separate materials procurement from labour, the framework supports more transparent pricing, improved data capture and stronger long term asset management decision making.
Moving from Information to Operational Intelligence
This is also why digital procurement and order management platforms are becoming more valuable across the sector.
CHIC’s Order Management System, COMS, was developed to bring procurement, ordering, approvals, invoicing and reporting onto a single platform. Rather than teams relying on disconnected spreadsheets, emails and multiple supplier systems, COMS gives members a clearer and more consistent view of programme activity.
Something as simple as controlling approved product catalogues or preventing duplicate orders can reduce failed deliveries, minimise repeat visits and improve budget control. Better invoice validation and consolidated reporting can dramatically reduce administration time while improving financial oversight.
The cumulative effect of these operational improvements is substantial, particularly at a time when every pound spent needs to demonstrate value.
Better Data Starts with Better Data Collection
Of course, good intelligence relies on good information in the first place.
One of the biggest challenges across the housing sector is not simply how data is analysed, but how consistently and accurately it is collected. Surveying methodologies, asset information standards and data capture processes can vary significantly between organisations, creating gaps in understanding that directly affect investment decisions.
If the underlying data is incomplete or inconsistent, even the most advanced reporting systems will struggle to deliver meaningful insight.
This is also where conversations around artificial intelligence are starting to gain real momentum within the sector. AI has the potential to help organisations process larger volumes of information more efficiently, identify trends earlier and support more predictive approaches to asset management and investment planning.
However, AI is only as effective as the data it is trained on. Without reliable, structured and accurate information, artificial intelligence risks amplifying existing problems rather than solving them.
The housing sector therefore needs to focus not only on adopting new technologies, but also on improving the quality, consistency and accessibility of the data underpinning them.
Better Data Supports Better Asset Management
Data is becoming increasingly important in supporting retrofit and decarbonisation activity. Landlords are now expected to understand not only what products are being installed, but also their performance, carbon impact and long-term maintenance implications.
Without good procurement intelligence, delivering that level of oversight becomes extremely difficult.
The reality is that the housing sector is entering a period where organisations that can successfully connect procurement data, asset information and operational performance will be in a far stronger position than those still relying on fragmented systems and reactive reporting.
Technology alone is not the answer, of course. Good systems still require good processes, good governance and people who understand how to use data effectively. But the sector is clearly moving towards a more intelligence led approach to asset management and procurement. And that shift is overdue.
Join the Discussion at the CHIC Conference
These themes will also form part of the discussion at the upcoming CHIC Conference during the session:
Data, Surveys & AI – Intelligent or Artificial?
The session will explore how landlords can make better investment decisions through improved data collection, surveying practices and operational intelligence, while also examining the opportunities and limitations of AI within the housing sector.
The session will look at an increasingly important question for the sector: are we collecting the right information about our homes in the first place and are we using that data intelligently enough to support better outcomes?
For organisations currently grappling with data quality, procurement visibility, asset intelligence and future investment planning, it promises to be a valuable and highly relevant discussion.
Interested in Seeing COMS in Action?
If you would like to learn more about how COMS can help improve procurement visibility, streamline ordering processes and provide better operational intelligence across your programmes, the CHIC team would be happy to arrange a demonstration.
Whether you are exploring materials procurement strategies, looking to separate materials from labour or simply trying to gain better visibility across your supply chain, we can show you how the platform works in practice.
