Discover smarter ways to control your spend

Challenge: Keeping pace with constant change

Housing providers are evolving rapidly, with many now also acting as housebuilders or working closely with them. The sector continues to experience significant transformation, requiring providers to do more with less.

• Demand continues to outstrip supply due to growing populations.
• Property portfolios are becoming more complex and diverse.
• Labour and material shortages, exacerbated by volatile markets, impact project timelines.
• New regulations and policy shifts introduce added compliance requirements.
• Budgets are under pressure from inflation and rising operating costs.
• Mergers and acquisitions lead to fragmented systems and inconsistent processes.
• Ambitious sustainability and energy efficiency targets raise the bar for long-term planning.

Often, a combination of these factors compounds the challenge.

Solution: Modernise spend and procurement management

To respond effectively, housing providers must rethink how they manage spend. A more strategic approach to sourcing, purchasing and paying for goods and services, such as building materials, maintenance and tenant services, can unlock greater value.

With Proactis, housing providers can:

• Streamline operations with tools designed to handle diverse and complex procurement needs.
• Allocate more budget to core missions like providing homes and community support.
• Adapt quickly to regulatory and market changes through smarter back-office processes.

 

Challenge: Increasing operational complexity

Housing providers are taking on wider roles in society, beyond property management. They're expected to diversify income, support communities, and deliver more comprehensive services, often with limited resources.

This expansion creates:

• Growing supplier networks and contract volumes.
• Greater pressure on procurement and finance teams.
• The need for tighter compliance, especially as providers may now be held liable for supplier failures (e.g. Parliamentary Bill, late 2023).

Solution: Drive compliance and control through technology

Proactis SRM and Contract Management give providers the tools to:

• Gain visibility and control across the entire supplier lifecycle.
• Monitor supplier performance and identify risks early.
• Ensure compliance with internal and external requirements.

With Guided Buying, all staff, from central teams to on-site personnel, can order what they need, when they need it, from approved suppliers on pre-negotiated contracts, reducing out-of-contract spend.
 

 

Challenge: Inefficient, labour-Intensive operations

From on-site maintenance requests to major build projects, thousands of transactions flow through housing providers each month, often through manual or outdated systems. This creates:

• High admin overhead.
• Delays in approvals and payments.
• Increased risk of errors and poor audit trails.

Solution: Automate and streamline back-office processes

With Proactis' Procure-to-Pay (P2P) solution:

• Straight-through invoice processing and “right first time” transactions reduce manual effort.
• Staff are freed to focus on strategic and tenant-facing priorities.
• Budget visibility improves, enabling better forecasting, planning, and cost control.
• Clear insight into total spend empowers informed decision-making.