Morgan Sindall launches real-time monitoring service for social housing

Morgan Sindall is launching a service that uses Internet of Things sensors and machine learning to provide real-time monitoring of social housing.

Developed by an in-house team of data scientists working for Morgan Sindall Property Services, the platform uses interconnected sensors positioned throughout a home to collect data on the internal environmental conditions in a property, including temperature, air pressure, light levels, humidity and carbon dioxide. 

Known as goldeni, the system also monitors heating systems, detects water leaks and monitors electricity and gas consumption.

Morgan Sindall Property Services currently looks after 200,000 homes on behalf of social landlords across the UK. Goldeni provides social housing landlords and tenants with clear, practical recommendations. For example, the system monitors ventilation and will recommend opening more windows to ensure homes are less susceptible to mould, and spots when a boiler needs to be serviced, so that preventative action can be taken before a problem escalates.

By tracking which homes are using central heating too often or too little, goldeni can also help users identify properties that are in fuel poverty or requiring additional insulation.

John Morgan, chief executive of the Morgan Sindall Group, said: “Morgan Sindall is committed to developing and implementing innovations for our customers. The launch of goldeni, our first technological innovation for the sector, represents an important milestone not just for Morgan Sindall, but also for social housing as a whole. By giving clues to potential issues within homes even before they occur, it can help those living in social housing have healthier, safer, more energy efficient homes, as well as saving social housing providers’ costs.

“While we’re initially focusing on social housing, its ability to provide an instant overview of a building’s health in real time means that goldeni would just be as useful for commercial and private residential property owners as well, and that’s something we’ll be looking to roll out in the future.”

Phil Copperwheat, information systems director of Morgan Sindall Property Services, added: “This is an important moment for Morgan Sindall, as it’s the first time we’ve launched a bespoke, comprehensive software platform, developed entirely in-house.

“By using machine learning, we’ve ensured the platform constantly updates and improves itself, so the more customers use golden, the more useful and insightful it will be. We’ve worked hard to make the interface as simple and intuitive as possible, so that customers can start to benefit from it straight away.”