HomeMaster a ‘Game Changer in the Industry'

Gary Alison, Director of Property & Development at Loreburn HA describes HomeMaster as a ‘Game Changer in the Industry.'

Loreburn Housing Association owns and manages over 2,750 properties in Dumfries & Galloway. As early as 2017, Loreburn made the strategic decision to move to an agile working environment. However its existing  housing management solution would seriously prohibit this. When Gary Alison, as Director of Finance and Corporate Services ,  was appointed in 2019, the IT & digital strategy ambitions required Loreburn to reconsider its existing system.  

Gary identified several possible options and contacted the team at Designer Software for a demo of HomeMaster. He says: “HomeMaster ticked so many boxes that I was keen to have a look at it. The product functionality as well as the simple cost structure and the lack of implementation fees were amongst the key reasons for taking a closer look. Not only was it the most cost-effective of all the products we had demonstrated, it was also the most impressive.”

HomeMaster offered a single fully-integrated housing and finance management solution, specifically designed for agile working. It had been developed by housing management professionals for housing management professionals. Gary adds: “It was an easy decision to purchase HomeMaster. It sounds too good to be true, but it really is true. I can’t speak highly enough of HomeMaster and the team behind it.”

“It was an easy decision to purchase HomeMaster. It sounds too good to be true, but it really is true. I can’t speak highly enough of HomeMaster and the team behind it.”

Prior to signing the contract, the HomeMaster team demonstrated the product to all  staff at Loreburn as the executive team were keen to achieve universal staff buy-in. These demo sessions were completed online but were very interactive. Not only did they demonstrate the ease of use and robustness of the cloud solution, but they also allowed  Loreburn staff to ask questions and clearly define their requirements. 95% of their requirements could be achieved on implementation, with the remaining 5% developed soon afterwards. For example, Loreburn needed an additional Service Charge module, so a scope-out meeting was held a week after signing the contract. A working prototype was available within three weeks, a turnround timeframe which Gary describes as a “game changer in the industry”.

Implementation

Prior to implementation Loreburn completed a data cleansing and reformatting exercise so all  data could be brought in to HomeMaster in a consistent format from a range of disparate systems.  The contract was signed in November 2020, and after the data was cleansed, implementation started in earnest in late January 2021. The system went live on 5th July 2021. Gary says: “To achieve this in effectively five months is phenomenal. Typically, I would expect it to take 12-18 months and tie up an IT project team as well.” 

He adds: “HomeMaster are always on hand to answer any queries and the response times are excellent. , with system changes made almost instantly. Gary says, “I can’t speak highly enough of how they take forward recommendations to develop their product. This really exceeded organisational expectations.”

The implementation and project delivery were all completed remotely, and with Loreburn operating across a wide region, this meant saving 140-mile round trips for some of the Loreburn team.

Training

Gary continues: “We have a limited IT resource at Loreburn, but we put together a project team from different departments. HomeMaster trained up the project team to deliver training to other staff. HomeMaster made sure that they took our staff on the journey with them. This resulted in a sense of collective ownership which enables us to embed the product without relying on a limited IT resource.

Gary said “One of our objectives was the empowerment and ownership of the system to the people who are delivering the services. We have definitely achieved that.”

Functionality and Efficiency Gains

Using HomeMaster has eliminated the need for Loreburn to use five other systems, such as an arrears tool and electronic document management, as these functions are now managed within HomeMaster. Also, the Designer Software team integrated Total Mobile and M3 Locator within HomeMaster so that data flows in real time between the products, with one point of entry. 

This has created significant time savings and efficiency gains as well as helping Loreburn to achieve its mission of delivering an exceptional customer experience. It means that operational staff can spend more time out in the community delivering services,  while having easy remote access to all the information that they need. 

Loreburn aims for first-time resolution when dealing with customer queries and providing call handlers and operational staff access to real-time data enables them to answer customer queries immediately. In addition, having access to all relevant parts of the HomeMaster system allows them to see the bigger picture (for example, anything from maintenance works orders to rent arrears) so that they can take a customer-centred approach.

HomeMaster allows Loreburn to manage services more effectively by monitoring internal Key Performance Indicators. An alert or notice will flash up on the screen if certain parameters are not met, enabling the staff to act.

Accessing real-time data and management information has also helped the Executive Team at Loreburn to make better-informed strategic decisions. Sue Irving, Director of Housing at Loreburn said “Real-time data is available in several formats: the HomeMaster dashboard, quick access tiles, and reports. This means that all processes are clear and transparent, allowing greater clarity and more objective decision-making. Rather than relying on anecdotal or inaccurate information. This means as an Executive Team we can deploy resources more efficiently, helping to reshape the organisation to deliver a better service”.

Cost savings

Gary estimates that switching to HomeMaster combined with the implementation of the hub, home and roam model will enable Loreburn to make over £250,000 of cost savings, as follows:

Strategic objectives

Covid accelerated the need to move to agile working and HomeMaster, with other products, has enabled Loreburn to deliver a safe, robust and efficient mobile working solution. The organisation now operates within a hub, home and roam operating model.  The strategic plan was to move to a agile model in two to three years so the step change supported by HomeMaster has accelerated the move. 

Conclusion

Gary concludes: “I am so impressed with the HomeMaster Team. I absolutely trust them and they’re aligned with our business ethics so it’s great to have a like-minded strategic partner. The product offer and service delivery are exceptional and at Loreburn we are committed to working with organisations who bring a value for money offer to our customers and make a real difference to this sector. They are a breath of fresh air and we are excited to be working with them.”

To summarise, the key reasons for Loreburn HA switching to HomeMaster are:

• Robust and easy-to-use cloud-based platform to support and enable agile working

• Cost-effective solution

• A comprehensive offer with fewer bolt-on products required.

• Real-time performance data to help us deliver an exceptional customer experience

• Fast and responsive service

• An effective, responsive partner