Silent Tenant, an AI solution designed to address challenges within the UK housing sector, has earned Birmingham-based housing association Platform Housing Group a gold award in the innovation category at the Housing Technology 2024 Awards and the title of Most Innovative Approach to Resident Welfare at the Housing Digital Innovation Awards 2024. The judges praised PHG for its commitment to improving customer welfare with the best evidence-based practices.
The solution was created in response to the “Peabody incident,” an infamous case in which a tenant was found dead in her apartment more than two years after her passing. The system leverages advanced machine learning techniques to identify tenants at risk by monitoring actions such as repair requests and analysing communication history. The purpose is to prioritise urgent health checks for those who are becoming disengaged, or “silent”.
Daulet Yermanov, a Warwick Business School Alumnus and Silent Tenant’s sole developer stated that his goal has been to create a tool that could prevent tragedies before it’s too late. The implementation of k-means clustering, logistic regression and deep learning has made this possible. From Daulet’s perspective, the incident has revealed how crucial it was to have systems able to alert about potential emergencies, allowing support services to intervene before issues escalate into crises.
Without a doubt, Platform Housing Group is setting a new benchmark in the industry, balancing profitability with social impact. In Q2 2024, PHG reported a rise in turnover by 14.8%, reaching £92.3 million, which is 85% of revenues. PHG has increased its investment in existing homes by over 147% as the company advocates for a stable national housing plan that recognises the value of social housing.