The impact of COVID-19 on property has been immediate and widespread – hitting everyone involved in the residential market. Indeed, whether you are a resident in a block or if you’re managing the property, you are seeing a whole new world in terms of how your communities operate.
The crisis has created major disruption, and managers are under greater-than-ever pressure to take the lead and communicate on how the crisis is impacting living conditions. For example, property managers will be expected to provide updates on any confirmed COVID-19 cases and the steps being taken to protect residents – such as deep cleaning and security.
The traditional paper and person-to-person methods of managing these requirements seem more problematic and undesirable than ever in light of the crisis. Residents are likely to have questions on everything from cleaning in communal areas, maintenance issues and handling of deliveries to service charges and ground rent payments – all at a time when social distancing, self-isolation and lockdown have become an everyday reality. Indeed, there is a lot for building operators and agents to communicate and much that residents need to know.
The good news is the technology is available to facilitate communication both ways. What’s more, COVID-19 has transported us to a brave new world where relying on technology to handle day-to-day operations is no longer a choice for the residential sector, it is a requirement.
Online portals help maintain clear and consistent lines of communication with residents by providing an easier way to raise queries and requests from the safety of their own home. These portals can also enable self-service online payments, maintenance requests and sharing of digital documents. Aside from providing greater convenience by centralising all property manager and resident communications, residential portals can also help build greater trust which is crucial during this period of extreme uncertainty.
The COVID crisis comes at a time when property managers are already facing mounting pressure to provide better customer service than ever for residents in leasehold properties, and those residents have high expectations on the use of digital technology. We’ve seen this directly with companies such as Block Management UK, which recently moved to improve its digital offering by deploying a resident portal and other online tools that will bolster the customer experience and support its next phase of expansion. Block managers and agents now need to consider customer service as a fundamental part of their ongoing operations, must ensure everyone in their communities receives communications that are up-to-date, accurate and easily accessible – and they need the solutions in place to enable that.
These trends, driven by changing demographics, are not new, but the coronavirus crisis has massively accelerated the need for technology adoption. Digital communications are more important than ever. Property management companies that are still reluctant to modernise the way they interact with residents will be quickly overtaken by forward-thinking competitors that have realised technology is a sound investment that ensures better service and efficiencies – and resident safety.
Trevor Youens, UK Residential Solutions Director at MRI Software
