Housemark analysis has verified Mobysoft’s findings that housing providers using AI-driven income collection achieve stronger performance, with RentSense users collectively outperforming non-users by 22.9% over a five-year period.
Housemark, the UK housing sector’s leading data and insight company jointly owned by the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing, has independently validated Mobysoft’s analysis of arrears performance across the social housing sector – confirming that landlords using the RentSense platform have collectively outperformed their peers over the past five years.
Mobysoft originally analysed five years of arrears data (2019/20–2023/24) from the Regulator of Social Housing’s Global Accounts and Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS). That analysis revealed a consistent pattern: housing associations and local authority landlords using RentSense, Mobysoft’s AI-driven income collection solution, recorded stronger arrears performance compared to non-users.
Housemark has now verified those findings. Their independent assessment confirms that RentSense customers, as a group, reduced arrears between 2019/20 and 2023/24, while non-users saw arrears increase over the same period.
Key findings include:
- RentSense customers’ average arrears rate reduced from 4.0% in 2019/20 to 3.7% in 2023/24 – a 7.5% drop.
- Non-RentSense users’ arrears rates increased from 3.9% to 4.5% – a 15.4% rise.
- Overall, RentSense users collectively outperformed non-users by 22.9% over the five-year period.
This performance was achieved not just through technology, but through a wider culture of income excellence that brings together people, processes, and data-driven insight.
Validation highlights sustained arrears improvement
John Wickenden, Research Manager at Housemark, commented: “Housemark’s validation confirmed Mobysoft’s arrears calculations, showing that RentSense customers, as a group, recorded better arrears performance than non-RentSense users over the five-year period.
“Our analysis also found that RentSense ‘super users’ – those organisations who have embedded the system fully into their processes – reduced arrears rates by 38% between 2019/20 and 2023/24, at a time when the rest of the sector saw arrears increase by 13%.”
Housemark’s validation also supports earlier Mobysoft analysis showing that RentSense customers have simultaneously reduced former tenant arrears (FTAs) and bad debt provision alongside current tenant arrears (CTAs). This demonstrates that RentSense not only helps providers collect arrears efficiently but also enables earlier intervention and improved tenant outcomes — helping sustain tenancies rather than simply recover debt.
Embedding best practice: People, culture, and technology
The findings highlight two important insights for housing providers. Firstly, that technology adoption – and specifically the use of AI-driven tools like RentSense – has a measurable impact on arrears performance.
Secondly, that the benefits are maximised when this technology is embedded within an organisation’s people, culture, and processes to create a consistent, data-informed approach to income management.
Mobysoft’s wraparound service, led by its Income Maximisation Director consultancy team, supports housing providers in achieving this balance.
Through tailored training, horizon scanning, webinars, and in-person events that share best practice, Mobysoft helps income teams build capability and foster a culture that underpins sustainable arrears performance.
Nick Beasley, Income Maximisation Director at Mobysoft, said: “Having Housemark validate our arrears analysis is hugely significant.
“It gives housing providers complete confidence that AI-driven solutions like RentSense deliver measurable financial resilience — but the real results come when technology is paired with skilled people and the right culture.
“Our customers aren’t just reducing arrears; they’re reducing FTAs and bad debt while sustaining tenancies. That happens because RentSense, combined with our income maximisation support, helps teams intervene earlier, support tenants faster, and prevent debt from snowballing.
“The independent validation from Housemark reinforces that this joined-up approach is what truly drives long-term success.”
With financial pressures continuing to mount across the sector, Housemark’s independent validation underscores the critical role that people, culture, and technology together play in strengthening income collection, improving tenant support, and ensuring long-term organisational sustainability.
Housing Digital Stakeholder Mobysoft is one of the fastest growing software as a service-providers in the UK. Its RentSense product helps landlords sustain more tenancies, deliver efficiencies, and protect revenues.
Image: 3rdtimeluckystudio/Shutterstock
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