Wolverhampton housing partnership

Wolverhampton City Council and Northgate Information Solutions have announced a new housing services partnership.

The agreement between the council and Northgate will be worth over £1 million over five years. It will be project managed by NCC Group.

Northgate will be working with Wolverhampton Homes, the council's arms length management organisation.

The agreement promises to offer
• residents better communications with housing staff and improved feedback into services;
• access to multi-lingual self-service systems and assistance in their operation, helping employees to communicate  better with Wolverhampton's diverse communities
• improved staff access to comprehensive and up-to-date housing information to help citizens with their housing needs
• a quicker and more proactive management of property allocation
• better management and monitoring of homeless applicants and their requirements, helping to tackle and solve  homelessness in the area
• a proactive housing repairs service that plans repairs and reacts quickly and effectively

Lesley Roberts, Chief Executive of Wolverhampton Homes said: "Wolverhampton Homes is on the way to becoming one of the best housing providers in the country but has been held back by legacy IT systems.

"The Northgate partnership will enable us to achieve three star status by increasing the capacity of the organisation and making significant value for money savings. We will be able to put more resources into maintaining the housing stock, and less into back room administration and bureaucracy. And tenants and leaseholders will have quicker and easier access to housing services."