OPENHousing boosts Service Delivery for Parkway Green

We are pleased to announce that Manchester–based housing trust, Parkway Green, has signed a £150,000 contract with IBS OPENSystems. Our OPENHousing solution will streamline management of Parkway Green’s properties, drive efficiencies and enhance its service to tenants. The solution will go live in July 2009 for 50 users.

Future Product Implementations Planned

Following go-live of OPENHousing, Parkway Green plans to implement IBS’ OPENMobile solution for field based staff in order to extend the benefits of OPENHousing and enhance service to tenants even further.

Please click here for the full details of this announcement

If you would like further details about our OPENHousing or OPENMobile products please click here

Housing advice goes on offer in health centres

Housing advice will soon be on offer next to medical services at some of London’s new polyclinics.

The first seven polyclinic health centres have opened in London and will offer GP services plus additional healthcare services. All 31 London primary care trust areas will open similar clinics over the next five years.

They will also offer wellbeing and support services such as benefits and housing advice.

If you have any comments about this concept please add your thoughts below.

Housing Market Recovery?

Despite the UK property market's deepest and most sudden slump in living memory. There are some who are beginning to suggest a corner has been turned!

Industry reports show house prices are currently down by about 20% from their peak in the summer of 2007 and completed sales in the UK during February were half the level seen 12 months before, at just 42,000. However, mortgage approvals - a key indicator of near term trends - for the same period were up for the first time in 6 months, this coupled with an upward trend in new inquiries is giving some hope for the future!

Most "professionals" gave up trying to predict housing market trends months ago, and some small twinklings of light at the end of a very long tunnel are hardly a reason for developers to pop the champagne corks. The general consensus seems to be of scepticism towards any claims of recovery with some experts even suggesting a further 20% fall this year and another 10% during 2010!

So it seems that despite the best efforts of our ever optimistic Estate Agents friends, there are still a few bumps in the road ahead!

Welcome to the OPENHousing Blog!

Thank you for joining us at our new OPENHousing blog

We hope to use these postings to bring you up to date and relevant news regarding IBS OPENSystems, the public sector housing market and interesting viewpoints on the latest developments that impact our industry.

If you have any comments on the articles included in this blog, please feel free to contribute at the bottom of each section - however, you will need to become a member to add any comment, which you can do simply by entering your details in the box at the top of the page*.

We hope you enjoy this new feature and find what we publish of interest - intially it will be a process of trial and error as we develop the type of articles and news we post so your input will be glady received. This month you can let us know the type of information you would like to read on our blog by voting in our online survey in the top right hand column.

Thank you - we look forward to your contributions.

*Please note all comments will be moderated before being published

FREE! Product Briefings - Cardiff

Product Briefings 19 May 2009 Millennium Stadium Cardiff.

We'll be hosting a product briefing for existing customers at the Millennium Stadium on 19 May 2009. Areas covered will include:

• OPENHousing a look behind the new features of Version 8.0 including Energy Performance Certificates,SMS Texting and Debt Management
• Mobile Working and OPENContractor
• Document Management and Workflow

For further details or to pre-register please click here or speak to your Account Manager