Housing Associations Experience Huge Increases in Usage with the inclusion of Choice Based Lettings

Date: 24th March, 2010. Updated 28th April, 2010.

Choice based lettings are proving to be incredibly popular on Looking Local, a number of our housing association partners have increased their usage tenfold since launching CBL within their services.

Twin Valley Homes added choice based lettings to their Looking Local service back in November 2009 and immediately saw a 1000% increase in usage. This was incredible and it is a trend that has not subsided; their site still receives around 3,500 hits a week. Housing Pendle experienced a similar increase in usage after integrating their CBL system, they too have been able to sustain usage and interest in their stock via the TV.

More recently both Birmingham and Kent Homechoice added CBL services to their Looking Local sites and again usage and interest has sky-rocketed. In the second week of March both services received heavy usage; Birmingham's CBL service was their second most popular plug-in on their ever popular site, receiving over 5,500 hits, whilst Kent Homechoice - the UK's largest CBL scheme - logged 4,000 hits.

Usage of Birmingham and Kent's CBL service have remained at an impressive high during April; Kent Homechoice had an incredible week in mid-April with over 7,000 hits. A new partner Devon Home Choice has also begun to promote their CBL service and their service during the week beginning the 12th of April had over 9,000 hits.

The popularity of housing services was further highlighted when the BBC picked up on the new service launched by the housing association Boston Mayflower, based in Lincolnshire. Following a press release about the new resident focused service, Boston Mayflower itself and users of their choice based lettings service were interviewed by both BBC Look North and BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

BBC Look North showed the service being used by residents and the ease by which Boston Mayflower makes its homes available. The BBC Radio Lincs Breakfast Show interview was a much chattier, a magazine style piece, where the DJ delved into the whys and wherefores of the service.

This shows the importance of promoting services and the power of marketing; once a story is featured, they are often picked up by other press organisations. Listen to the BBC Radio Lincs interview or view the BBC Look North clip here.

These figures and the press interest prove that housing services are a natural fit with Looking Local and the audience who use DiTV are keen on these services. People are able to view the latest homes available, read the details, view images and then bid securely. Looking Local works with a range of CBL providers including Abritas, Home Connections, IBS and Locata, so any partner who offer CBL via these companies, can easily include CBL into their Looking Local offering.