Councils across the UK struggle to navigate the ongoing financial challenges they face. As a result of this financial pressure, difficult decisions are being made between building new properties and repairing old homes.
A recent survey of more than 100 local authorities by the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed that only 38% of councils in England are confident in their ability to invest in new housing, with 57% planning to reduce spending on repairs and maintenance.
This creates an unsavoury situation, where council housing rents across the country will have to increase (100% of survey respondents agreed with this statement), and councils will be forced to draw on their financial reserves.
The same survey found that many councils were having to choose between running their council housing fund into deficit or failing to meet legal repair obligations. This is extremely concerning, as it means that new requirements, such as those enforced by Awaab’s Law, may not necessarily be adhered to.
This could have a massive impact on councils’ abilities to meet the UK Government’s housebuilding aims, as they won’t have the necessary funds to invest in new developments.
Commenting on these survey findings, Chancellor Adam Hug, housing spokesperson for the LGA, said: “These findings are yet another example of the financial pressures facing councils with Housing Revenue Accounts.
“The situation is untenable and unsustainable, and without urgent action, councils – and the communities and people they support – will be severely impacted.”
While intervention is clearly required from the Government, reducing the cost of repairs and maintenance at local councils can help to alleviate some of this pressure.
Fortunately, the ROCC system can achieve this, offering a powerful and proven platform to help housing associations and councils reduce their spend on repairs and maintenance.
Not only will our market-leading software help to reduce the burden on financing new, affordable homes, but councils will also improve service delivery and tenant satisfaction. Here’s how we do it:
Operational efficiency through automation
ROCC automates routine and complex repairs processes, reducing the need for manual intervention. This includes:
- Diagnosis
- Appointment scheduling
- Operative dispatch
- Materials ordering
This automation frees up planners, contact centre staff and supervisors to focus on high-priority or exceptional cases, which directly reduces administrative overhead and staffing costs.
Automated planning and mobile working
The integrated planning engine with mobile working ensures operatives complete more jobs per day. It also means they will spend less time traveling and achieve higher “right first time” repair rates. The result is improved productivity and lower costs per job.
Reduced use of subcontractors
By improving operative efficiency and first-time fix rates, clients using ROCC often reduce their reliance on subcontractors. For example, Thirteen Group reduced outsourced contractor spend by £500,000 thanks to efficiency gains with ROCC.
Integrated materials management
ROCC facilitates robust, real-time integration with major suppliers. It automates van stock replenishment and links material usage directly to jobs, ensuring tighter cost control and reducing delays due to missing parts. This prevents unnecessary site revisits, saving time and money.
Reduced fuel and travel costs
Route optimisation features reduce mileage and carbon emissions. Richmond and Wandsworth Council saw operative productivity double, while Sovereign Network Group achieved significant fuel savings alongside a boost in jobs completed per day.
Prevention of unnecessary works
With inbuilt asset management features and off-the-shelf integration to all existing asset management systems, ROCC helps prevent duplication of works, such as reactive repairs that are already part of planned programmes. This supports better long-term investment decisions and cost avoidance.
Insightful reporting and KPI monitoring
Real-time dashboards and analytics help managers monitor performance, track budgets and identify inefficiencies quickly. This transparency supports better decision-making and continuous cost control.
With ROCC’s end-to-end maintenance and repairs management platform, councils and housing associations can deliver a better service at a lower cost. Plus, this partnership can lead to additional support in strategic goals around compliance, sustainability and resident satisfaction.
Considering all of these benefits, it’s clear to see how ROCC could be instrumental in an organisation’s efforts to balance decisions around building new homes and maintaining existing ones.
Peter Luck, Business and Operations Director, ROCC, said: “We are continuously striving to find new ways to help housing organisations improve their responsive and planned maintenance services while reducing overall costs.
“We don’t just focus on productivity and efficiency, we are also investing in new ways to develop and deliver IT systems to our partners to reduce their ongoing IT spend.
“This will ensure more of their money goes into helping improve the homes of their customers”.
For information about how ROCC’s game-changing software can reduce your repairs and maintenance costs, reach out to a member of our customer service team.
