Small tech firms face many hurdles when it comes to forging relationships with the social housing sector, so the PropTech Peer Group was launched to help even the odds. Mark Cantrell speaks to its founder, Stewart Davison, to hear how it’s going
The conversation kind of started over lunch, says Stewart Davison, managing director of Elehan Consulting, and it has just grown from there; a year on and the discussion shows no sign of winding down.
If that sound’s rather cryptic, it’s a summation of how the PropTech Peer Group came into being, and what you might say is its modus operandi; it’s all about nurturing a community, albeit a community with purpose.
Still a little mysterious? Okay, Davison established the PropTech Peer Group in 2023 to create a community of SME and start-up tech businesses. The ultimate aim is to help social landlords tackle some of their most pressing and persistent issues, by – essentially – getting the two groups talking.
“The whole purpose of the group is to try and assist members, to provide a platform, so they can engage with the social housing sector,” says Davison. “From my experience, I’ve seen a lot of these newer, smaller, more agile companies – who are focusing on particular issues within the sector – don’t always get the same opportunities as some of the bigger, more established players.”
In a sense, then, the group is a forum for sharing advice, learning from one another, and providing a source of mentoring and support That way they can better navigate some of the hurdles small companies face in a market dominated by large competitors (an issue common to pretty much any sector of business, it must be said).
Ultimately, then, it’s about honing members’ affinity with social housing, and grounding them in the sector’s expectations and needs.
Source of inspiration
The initial idea was triggered during that fateful meeting for lunch with Ryan Dempsey of TCW – now a supportive member – and the peer group has just grown from there.
“I wanted to bring a community together – there’s always strength in numbers – and to leverage my experience, my networks, my connections, to help them get their message out to the sector,” Davison says. “So it is very much about bringing people together, trying to create relationships and collaborations, but all geared towards mission-orientated businesses that want to do good for social housing.”
Clearly, the peer group is doing something right, having reached its first anniversary, and now looking ahead with confidence at the year to come. Likewise, it’s positive that Platform Housing Group not only hosted the group’s first in-person meeting back in October, but actively took part; it shows the willingness to engage is there.
Davison is adamant that he doesn’t do selling; nor is that what the group is about. The meeting at Platform’s Solihull headquarters was about hearing the other’s perspective; fostering a mutual understanding and appreciation of the other’s needs and requirements in the round.
First to speak was Matt Baird, a social housing recruitment specialist, who for the last four years has run the Social Housing Roundtable podcasts. These have become a popular series of events.
As Baird explained in his keynote talk, the podcasts pretty much reflect the purpose of the peer group itself, in that they effectively serve to foster a community – in this instance of housing professionals – based around topical discussions of the sector’s key issues and challenges.
There’s a clear synergy there, which of course got Davison thinking. Indeed, it has since grown into a diary date for 23 May next year, when the two will come together for their own joint in-person event.
But that’s an aside; back to Baird. As he went on to outline, the challenges facing the sector are many. Some are what you might call the perennial ‘bread and butter’ issues; others are the result of changes to the sector’s operating environment. Either way, addressing them is a must.
Among the former, there’s the ongoing effort to ensure the efficient, responsive, and effective management of repairs and maintenance. Added to this is the urgent need to address the critical issues of health and wellbeing in the home, such as damp and mould, and in ensuring homes are affordable to heat.
There’s the new regulatory landscape to navigate, too. Stronger powers for both the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing; Tenant Satisfaction Measures, a new inspection regime and standards to comply with. Building Safety is another critical issue. The sector’s work is never done.
“Social housing is a challenge,” as Baird said, “and it’s always going to be challenging.”
Housing sits at the frontline of a great many societal issues, of course. Technology has a big role to play in helping to tackle them, he went on to say. And this, he made clear, is a further challenge in itself, as the sector wrestles with legacy systems, and modernisation, and the task of unlocking the power of data.
One piece of advice Baird offered the audience was to be wary of using the word “innovation”; it’s oft-used, like so many words, and when the sector hears it, they tend to assume “expensive”, he advised. Instead, he suggested, it’s better to let the innovation speak for itself; focus on what it does and how it makes a practical difference on day to day business.
Richard Hawkes, head of data analytics and AI at Platform Housing Group, also had some sound advice for the peer group members to help them on their journey, but he served a warning too.
There’s a huge opportunity in the sector for the firms that can get their foot in the door, he pointed out. Housing providers are wrestling with an array of legacy systems, and are looking for solutions, as the sector modernises and increasingly embraces digital.
Businesses that want to deal with the sector shouldn’t just restrict their approach to the c-suite executive level, he went on to say. They should seek to talk to operational managers; the “people who will sing about your product”.
Small world
Be honest about the scaleability of their products, he further advised, but don’t feel shame in being small; discuss how you can grow together, Hawkes told the group. He went on to point out that no two housing organisations are the same, despite what might seem like surface similarities.
And then the warning; honesty and integrity are vital. “A lot of smart people work in housing,” he said. The sector is shrewder that it’s often given credit for, is his point. Indeed, it’s a small world, and those people talk to each other – word gets around.
Duncan Palmer, head of responsive repairs at Platform, who Zoomed in his presentation, reinforced the message to the peer group members that they must get to know their potential clients. In some respects it sounds like Business 1.01, but as the gathering discussed, it’s not always something the well-established players get right all the time, either.
“Make sure you are targeting the right people,” Palmer said. Again that’s not necessarily the most senior of leaders, at least not initially. Firms need to be selling the benefits of their product to the people who will be using it, as much as those with the authority to buy it.
Finally, the meeting ended with an insightful – and personal – presentation from Ryan Dempsey, who shared his own founder’s experience, and the journey to building up TCW from first beginnings to where it is today. The essence – indeed, the morale – of his tale is simple: It all boils down to honesty, integrity, and passion.
Listening to the meeting, and hearing some of the discussion, it’s easy to see why Davison is enthused by the group, and its potential to help social housing solve some of its most intractable problems.
There are companies out there – indeed within the group – that have something to offer, but might otherwise struggle to gain access to the sector’s decision-makers.
“If you are a large corporate company, you’ve got a well-established marketing team with a good marketing budget,” Davison says. “You’ve got experienced sales people. You’re going to all the events. You can pay for advertising, so, of course, it puts eyeballs on your company.
“The kind of people who are part of the PropTech Group might not necessarily have access to those sorts of resources. If I can utilise all the networks and the people I know that I’ve built over 25 years working in the sector, then why shouldn’t I at least open some doors?”
As for the event itself, Davison feels like it certainly served its purpose. Much was discussed – too much to adequately condense into one article, or a quickfire interview – but some key lessons emerged for the social housing sector and tech SMEs alike.
For the latter it boils down to knowing the market inside out; do the research, be prepared, and get to know the people they want to work with, as Davison put it.
“It came out loud and clear,” he adds. “You’ve got to be really embedded in the sector; you’ve got to understand social housing. Until you live and breathe it you’re only going to be playing around the edges.”
Lastly, for the social housing sector, he urges them to be open to the idea of conversing with these newer businesses: “Don’t ignore these really interesting and exciting start-ups that are really laser-focused on trying to address the challenges housing providers are facing,” he says.
Above all, Davison adds: “Be authentic; be honest.” Words to live by, no matter our trade.
Main image: Stewart Davison, managing director, Elehan Consulting
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