Plymouth Community Homes Partners with Plentific for Digital Innovation
Plymouth Community Homes partnered with Plentific to implement a mobile-responsive Resident Portal and App, streamlining tenancy management, reducing call volumes, and improving customer service, with phase two focusing on repairs reporting.
Key results
7,000registered users
1,500app download
10,000resident log ins per month
Customer Background
Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) is Plymouth’s largest social housing landlord, with over 16,000 properties providing homes to over 35,000 people, and a major employer within the city with over 600 employees. Their vision is to provide homes and communities where people want to live. They are committed to providing first-class services to their residents, as well as to building more high-quality, affordable homes for rent or shared ownership sale to meet the local need.
“We have been hugely impressed with the team at Plentific who exceeded our expectations from the outset. They’ve delivered a fantastic product for us, which we plan to expand on during the coming year, and we feel well supported by Plentific to make further improvements to our services as we continue our digital innovation journey.”
- Mary O’Leary, Head of Communications and Marketing at PCH
The challenge
In 2022, Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) identified the need for a new customer portal that could better meet the needs of their residents. With a growing shift from telephone interactions to online services, PCH wanted a platform that was fully mobile responsive, accessible, and available as a native app. The new system had to simplify the user experience while integrating with their existing housing management system.
Additionally, PCH aimed to reduce call volumes to their contact centre by offering a 24 hour self-serve platform, allowing staff to focus on more complex queries and support residents who couldn’t access online services. The project was split into two phases: Phase one to deliver a resident portal for easy tenant onboarding and management, and phase two, to include a diagnostic tool for reporting and booking repairs.
The solution
For phase one, PCH selected the Plentific Resident Portal, providing tenants with a user-friendly application to manage their tenancy. From pre-tenancy applications and requests for mutual exchanges, to balance enquiries, payment processing, and raising queries, the Plentific portal offered a comprehensive, intuitive solution that customers can access at their convenience.
Plentific integrated the portal with PCH’s housing management system, NEC, providing residents with real-time access to essential information about their tenancy and property. Residents can access the portal via an app, available to download from the App Store or Google Play, enabling quick and easy access to their account.
Plentific’s offering
Resident portal
Resident App
Tenancy Onboarding & Applications
Sync Plentific's property management maintenance software with your existing tech stack in minutes, ensuring seamless integration.
The results
Since launching, the Plentific Resident Portal has over 7,000 registered users, and the app has been downloaded more than 1,500 times. Residents log in nearly 10,000 times per month, accessing real-time tenancy data and reducing calls to the contact centre. This has allowed PCH to improve customer service and efficiency, with staff now able to focus on more complex resident needs over the phone.
The tenancy on-boarding feature has facilitated over 200 pre-tenancy applications, ensuring prospective tenants can complete their application online by reviewing and entering their details and uploading photographs and documents to support their application. This has helped encourage timely applications and allowed staff to complete a thorough review of prospective tenants.
With phase one a success, PCH will soon begin phase two—introducing a diagnostic tool to help residents report and manage repairs—continuing their commitment to delivering exceptional customer service.
“The team at Plentific quickly proved themselves to be highly efficient, calm, confident and eager to help, despite our short deadlines and often complicated technical requirements. There was thorough communication throughout alongside a well-managed project plan, creative solutions provided, and the team members were always a joy to work with. We highly recommend Plentific for any digital innovation projects.”
