Repairs platform EVO cements position as digital partner of choice for responsible experience focussed landlords with two new major instructions

April 17, 2023
by News on the Block Editorial Team

Automated property management platform EVO has signed partnerships with major Registered Provider of Affordable Housing Storm Housing and B Corp Housing tech provider SimplyPhi (formerly Phi Capital Investments), which will more than double the size of its current portfolio of units and cement its position as the digital partner of choice for housing associations and registered providers.

The company is also expected to announce further partnerships imminently with major Local Authorities which will mean a quadrupling of EVO’s portfolio nationwide.

EVO is a digital property management solution that seamlessly connects landlords, tenants and tradespeople with simple, easy to use technology, to drive customer satisfaction whilst dramatically reducing cost to serve.

The EVO platform also has a positive social impact with its mission to solve Britain’s broken rental property sector where some 2.8m people are living in substandard housing. 

The application provides a more efficient way to maintain and responsively repair property by providing a fully managed solution so that both landlord and tenant don't have the hassle of sorting, while unlike other providers, all builders are pre-approved and EVO warranties the work for 12 months. This not only allows tenants to feel in control and enhances their experience which reduces void periods, but also saves administrative time and management cost for landlords. Being subscriptions based, all costs are transparent and consistent. For example, residents can report repairs and home emergency issues quickly, arrange service appointments when it is most convenient for them, and find and store home documents all through the easy-to-use EVO App.

Currently EVO is instructed on over 5,500 properties for both private and public sector landlords, set to rise to 12,500 properties with current instructions alone. EVO also works in partnership with homelessness organisation Capital Letters and their 20 member London Boroughs, to help speed up the repairs of housing, thus housing more London families who are desperately in need. 

In its recent funding round which saw the company achieve 127% of its £1m target, EVO announced its ambitions to scale up considerably with a target to onboard over 300,000 properties by 2026, which represents 3% of the UK repairs market. They plan to do this by targeting private landlords, major lettings agents and aggregators, and social housing providers & large-scale property investors.

In addition to Housing Associations, Local Authorities and Registered Providers, EVO is used by property giants Grainger plc and British Land to enhance their customer experience and minimise voids.

CEO Steven Rae said: “These new partnerships are fantastic news, not just for our business, but for our shared mission of providing a better experience for renters and, specifically for social and affordable housing tenants. More supply of better quality homes is something that will ultimately bring waiting lists and times down too as quicker repairs mean quicker turnaround of stock released back into occupation. The provision of this experience is no different to what we do with institutional BTR operators and developers - many of whom also share our ambition of fixing the rental market which has suffered from PRS landlords leaving in their droves and delays affecting the release of stock back to people who need it. Essentially we all want the same thing – to have a fairer and more accessible housing market for all.”

Storm Housing Group was established in 2020 and is a registered provider of Social Housing across England, working with the largest housebuilders alongside its internal development partner Storm Property, delivering new sustainable and environmentally friendly housing for affordable rent and shared ownership. Its target is to acquire over 1,000 homes per year and deliver 5,000 properties to the housing sector by 2028. 

Sam Roden, chief executive of Storm Housing Group said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Storm Housing Group is partnering with EVO. As a new Registered Provider, one of our main priorities is to raise the bar in terms of customer satisfaction as well as remove any inefficiencies in the way that social housing is currently managed. After reviewing all products that are currently on the market, EVO was the clear winner, as from a resident’s perspective, the interface and workflows are far superior to anything else out there, allowing a truly digital end-to-end customer experience at a far lower cost than traditional management.”

SimplyPhi is an established market leading, real estate and technology service provider to both Public Sector Organisations and Real Estate Investors. The company wants to digitise the complex process of buying, selling, renting and renovating housing in the UK. By using EVO, this process is further enhanced. 

EVO’s simple and intuitive technology provides an unparalleled level of convenience for tenants, landlords and tradespeople alike, allowing issues to be raised and dealt with as they happen, ensuring tenants have a good experience, and landlords do not have a long-term build-up of issues or consequential property damage.

Omar Al-Hasso, CEO of SimplyPhi said: “This partnership with EVO is a great fit for our council customers. EVO’s unique and innovative platform will help us extend our service offering by providing a long-term tenant-centric digital repairs and maintenance wrapper. Where Search Select kicks off the entire acquisitions process, Evo’s service bookends our ultimate tenants’ experience after they have moved into their new home.”

SimplyPhi is also a fully Certified B-Corporation (recognised top 5% in the world for Governance) and are an approved supplier for “Cloud Services” on the UK Government’s G-Cloud13 Framework.

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