Help us develop a data model for Awaab’s Law

A new data model is under development to help housing associations prepare for Awaab’s Law – and it needs your help to test it.

Over the past two years, HACT, Local Digital (part of MHCLG), Data Futurists and TPX Impact have been working together in a partnership to support stakeholders from across the social housing sector to implement the UK Housing Data Standards.

We know from research by Local Digital that data standards are critical in supporting effective housing services. They enable seamless information flows, increasing the likelihood of more first-time repair successes, increased resident satisfaction, and reduced frustration among residents and staff alike.

The research published earlier this year highlighted that poor data standards can cost large organisations over £1m when they migrate to new systems, for example, after merging with another housing association.

Supporting you to respond to Awaab’s Law

Data standards aren’t just about improving efficiencies, they can also support housing associations with compliance and implementing policy and statutory duties. With the introduction of the first phase of Awaab’s Law in October this year, housing associations will need to be able to react to potential hazards in residents’ homes within the prescribed timeframes. This is especially important in cases where residents are particularly vulnerable to specific hazards. For example, damp and mould poses greater risks to young children, older people, and people with asthma or other respiratory conditions. Data will play a critical role in enabling housing associations to prioritise remediation works based on residents’ personal circumstances.

A new data model

To support the sector, the partnership has redesigned the repairs use case in the HACT UK Housing Data Standards, developing a new module focused on damp and mould complete with implementation guidance. The model captures key components of a repairs request – from how it’s raised, assessed, responded to, escalated and closed – along with the data captured at each step. The aim is for the model to incorporate key pieces of data which would help social landlords monitor and record compliance with Awaab’s Law.

This data would help to record details of the initial issue reported by residents (the ‘hazard report’), of the investigation conducted by the landlord, and any escalation required to ensure that hazards are appropriately addressed and resolved by the landlord. The data model provides a structure for recording data elements that inform actions such as identifying hazards, assessing vulnerability and the severity of the issue.

The way the model has been designed allows housing associations to integrate components into their existing data systems, reusing previous HACT data standards use cases for repairs, property and customer data. This approach will also support future updates without the need for major system overhauls.

We need your help with testing

We are inviting housing associations to get involved in testing the data model which can be accessed through Github. You’ll find all the entity relationship diagrams, data definition language, as well as examples of how the model works in practice.

We need to test the model with housing associations to ensure it is robust and ready for landlords to use ahead of Awaab’s Law coming into force in October. We’d value your feedback by email to me before the end of August, if possible.

Hand-in-hand

This is the first time that a data product has been developed alongside policy by MHCLG, specifically the Local Digital unit within the ministry. By taking this approach in providing a shared data standard and service patterns, our aim is to reduce duplication, improve efficiencies and the outcomes for residents.