It’s difficult to escape the current and impending effects of the cost-of-living crisis. Inflation continues to rise with gas and electricity prices soaring, and many are struggling to manage their budgets and keep their heads above water. Those with the least disposable income, often social housing tenants, are being hit disproportionately hard.

According to a survey by L&Q, 35% of tenants either have nothing left each month after essential costs are met or are required to borrow – and 25% regularly find paying their rent unaffordable. For many tenants, the difficult decision between whether to pay rent, eat or heat is a hard reality. Housemark’s Monthly Pulse data shows a pattern of month-on-month and year-on-year increases in arrears rates.

As the leading data and insight company for the UK housing sector, Housemark can demonstrate how data can arm you with the information and insight to help you tackle the challenges faced by your organisation and your customers.

Housemark’s Housing Data and Analytics Summit on 6th October will feature a range of content, discussion and expert speakers, including a session on ‘Using data analysis to get ahead of the cost of living crisis’, led by Deven Ghelani, Director at Policy in Practice and Rachelle Earwaker, Senior Economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Key topics discussed will include:

  • How to analyse vulnerable areas and measure vulnerability
  • The importance of using open and comparable data
  • Examples of using data to tackle poverty
  • The best use of relevant data and insight to support your customers

Deven Ghelani founded Policy in Practice with the aim of making the welfare system simple to understand, so that people and organisations can make the decisions that are right for them. The company believes in the power of data and technology to change lives.

Deven has advised private and public sector organisations, including central and local government, on the impact of changes to the welfare system and was part of the team that developed Universal Credit at the Centre for Social Justice. Deven has written and spoken extensively on welfare reform. He sits on the Social Metrics Commission and the Mental Health and Income Commission.

Rachelle is a senior economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a social change organisation working to solve poverty in the UK. Her work focusses on housing affordability, household finances, fiscal policy and poverty. She previously worked at the New Zealand Treasury, mainly on the national Budget, including the first wellbeing Budget, and on housing policy.

To hear from Deven, Rachelle and many other expert speakers from in and out of sector, book your tickets for the Housing Data and Analytics Summit today.

In addition, Housemark’s Welfare Reform Club is a support network enabling operational managers to share and learn best practice approaches to income management and keep up to date with the latest reform policy and practice insight. To find out more and to book onto the next club meeting, visit our clubs page.