Babergh District Council

As two Social Housing landlords with a combined stock of 6,800 properties in rural Suffolk we wish to explore why our council tenants have little desire to use digital channels. We know broadband coverage is limited in parts of our districts and opportunities to receive digital training have received an extremally limited take up. With those tenants that we have spoken to reluctant to consider the benefits of using technology and focussed on traditional means of engagement.

Currently our customer service team receive in an average year more than 49,000 calls in relation to solely Housing related matters. This amounts on average to more than seven calls per year for every household.

In addition, we know we receive more than 12,000 emails per year, that rely on manual interventions before any response can be provided.

We want to migrate our customers to digital channels to engage with us and receive services. But in doing so we wish to understand what the barriers are, and how we overcome these. Creating a range of products and tools, through a variety of digital channels that will increase income, reduce cost and most importantly improve levels of customer service.