Bespoke solutions are the key to success in the housing sector
The end of 2023 saw a flurry of articles, policy papers and social media conversations about Scotland’s rural housing crisis. In many ways, a lot of the themes that were central to this debate will be familiar elsewhere in the UK and indeed in urban areas: a shortage of affordable homes, too many empty and void properties, and day to day services under incredible strain.
However, as we discovered when working with a leading housing association in Scotland, the rural sector has a number of unique characteristics – and opportunities.
An obvious starting point when looking at rural housing services is simple geography: rural registered providers will have in most cases a scattered client base of leaseholders and tenants spread over large distances. This immediately makes providing a repairs, major works or other management operation more complicated. With many miles to cover and transport infrastructure often patchy, economies of scale difficult can be difficult to achieve and there is little doubt that labour shortages are particularly acute in rural areas. Probably as a result of these factors, there can also be a smaller pool of good quality contractors, with the know how and experience, to carry out essential day to day works.
Recognising these factors was the key first step in our work with our rural partner and is part of our overall philosophy at Just Housing Group: every solution has to be bespoke, taking into account the environment and climate in which the client operates. As a result, we carried out a detailed commercial assessment of the neighbouring labour market to closely map the ambitions of the Housing Association, which wanted to overhaul its housing services, with what was achievable given the shortages in key skills in the local environment, as well as the disparate nature of their stock. We brought with this an in depth review of their current operation that got under the skin of how they worked and why, especially taking note of how this was influenced by their operational conditions.
You can read more about our eventual solutions here – and if you are a rural provider looking for a new start in 2024, rest assured, how team can offer the solutions you need.