How Locata Academy is making Homelessness Training more practical, accessible, and effective
Behind the headlines about rising temporary accommodation costs and housing shortages, there’s another challenge playing out every day: the pressure faced by the people supporting those at risk of homelessness. If you work in homelessness services, this probably sounds familiar… heavy caseloads, new staff starting without much training, and experienced officers struggling to keep up […]
How Locata’s HRS Module Is Streamlining Support Pathways
When someone seeks support, the process should be straightforward – not a maze of referrals, spreadsheets, and delays. Yet for many councils and providers, coordinating housing-related support still involves disconnected systems, duplicated effort, and time-consuming manual work. That’s where Locata’s HRS (Housing Related Support) Module comes in – a digital tool designed to simplify and […]
How Locata’s Estates Module Is Supporting Frontline Teams
In housing, every day brings a new challenge. Whether it’s collecting rent, responding to damp and mould concerns, or keeping tenancies on track — housing officers are at the sharp end, balancing demands with the need to get things right. But too often, the systems they rely on just aren’t up to the task. Outdated […]
Helping you get the most from your Locata system
Locata’s Consultancy Services – Insightful, Practical, Proven At Locata, we understand that every council is different. No two services operate in quite the same way, and neither do the challenges they face. That’s why our consultancy services are designed to be flexible, responsive, and grounded in the realities of frontline housing work. Whether you’re embarking […]
A new Helpsite & home for Knowledge Base articles
We’ve begun the process of moving to a new “LocataPro Support Portal”, containing all our Knowledge Base articles. We are currently in the process of updating, improving and consolidating over 1,000 articles to better support our clients: Visual Updates (Branding, Consistency of Layout) Consolidation (Removal of Duplicate and outdated Articles, Combining related articles where appropriate) […]
H-CLIC API integration between HPA2 and DELTA
A new HPA2 update that will allow homelessness officers the ability to validate and upload cases to DELTA without leaving the system will be rolled out in the next few weeks. A well-attended webinar on January 16 set out the process officers will need to follow so they no longer have to upload XML files […]
HCLIC API and other great enhancements
We have rolled out several new enhancements to the system, most are already live and the others are coming very soon. The enhancements to the tasks and questions screens will make configuring your bespoke workflows simpler across the platform. Task Management Enhancements Add a Task to group from within a task See which tasks a […]
Praise for Locata as New Forest goes live with new HMS system
New Forest District Council has paid tribute to Locata for the work they have undertaken to create an integrated portfolio of housing modules for the council. In a post on LinkedIn, Richard Knott, New Forest’s Assistant Housing Director, said that Locata and its developers, Sector, brought a genuine collaborative and partnership approach to the design […]
May 2023 target for new rough sleeper returns
The reporting requirements for rough sleepers are due to change in May 2023 as part of the Ending Rough Sleeping Framework. DLUHC has been consulting with the Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) and a set of early adopter local authorities to develop “a powerful set of metrics” to track how effectively rough sleeping is prevented […]
New Lettings system going live in Cheshire East
Locata’s new Lettings system is going live in Cheshire East, where it will intially run alongside the existing CBL system to doubly ensure the integrity of the system. The new system is designed to be a replacement for our current Choice Based Lettings product and is the culmination of more than a year’s development work. […]
Estimating future TA needs
Councils can now estimate the size and cost of their future Temporary Accommodation (TA) need using a predictive model developed by Andy Gale, one of the country’s leading homelessness experts. It is designed to help housing managers make the case for additional budget or capital resources to help purchase lower cost TA. This is particularly […]
Latest feature updates to your LocataPro systems
Over the last few months, we have introduced many new features to HPA2 and other products on the LocataPro platform. This news story is a round-up of the changes – most of which are already live or are about to go live. Repeatable Task dropdowns Repeatable tasks are very useful for tasks requiring multiple completions. […]
Automatic redaction of personal data
Every housing and homelessness team using Locata systems has amassed significant personal data from its customers. That data is held securely for you in the “cloud” using Micosoft servers based in the UK. Using the official GDPR definitions, Locata undertake that role for you as the “Data Processor”. However, the personal data should not be […]
Helping the NHC unlock success
Locata is supporting the Unlocking Success Bursary Scheme run by the Northern Housing Consortium Charitable Trust. The bursary awards a grant of £500 to individual social housing tenants to help them with the cost of learning or developing new skills. Since the launch of the scheme in 2019 there have been 88 bursaries awarded funded […]
New Lettings system on show for first time
Locata’s National Users Group (NUG) saw the first demonstration of the new Lettings system at last week’s Autumn meeting, held virtually on Friday October 21. The development work on the new module for the Locata Pro Platform, which is designed to be a replacement product for our current Choice Based Lettings product, has been undertaken […]
Help and advice delivered simply and clearly
My Advice Gateway is a free resource that helps people quickly find information on claiming benefits, accessing help and support and looking for a job or training opportunities. Many of our partner schemes have links to the website allowing their customers to access key financial information at a time of rising costs and economic uncertainty. […]
Locata progresses to G-Cloud 13
Locata has been successful in applying to join the Crown Commercial Services latest iteration of its digital marketplace – G-Cloud 13. The latest version of the G-Cloud framework will go live on 9 November 2022 and offers the very latest cloud technology and digital support to organisations across the public sector. This means that Locata […]
Funding sources list for dynamic TA dashboards
We have launched a new feature that allows officers to set up a list of funding sources for their tenancies. The new functionality works with two of the HPA2 bolt-ons Temporary Accommodation Plus (TAP) Temporary Accommodation Rent Accounting (TARA) Schemes with this new feature within their TAP or TARA bolt-ons can update the list of […]
SSO offers smooth and speedy access to systems
We can now offer all schemes the ability to set up Single Sign On (SSO) authentication for users to access their Locata systems. This is considered the most convenient way to authenticate system users as it does not require multiple verification processes. If your organisation uses an authentication service, such as Microsoft Azure AD, to […]
Turning the TAP on for greater TA efficiency
Increasing numbers of schemes have been signing up for TA – Plus (TAP) which gives officers far greater options within the core Temporary Accommodation functionality that forms part of HPA2. TAP is a “bolt-on” to the HPA2 module and provides an expandable workflow platform for Tenancies and Properties that can be easily customised. This means […]
Attaching correspondence to email templates
We have rolled out a number of free enhancements designed to simplify process outcomes to all HPA2 schemes. The first enhancement allows users to add letters to email templates. Once the officer has completed a letter template within a client’s communication log, they can then attach it to any email template. This functionality already existed […]
Home Office spending £4.7m a day on hotels for Afghan households and other asylum seekers
The Home Office has “messed up” the accommodation scheme for the 16,000 Afghan households that fled Kabul for Britain, according to Andy Gale speaking at Locata’s virtual National Users Group (NUG) meeting last week. Hundreds of council officers tuned in to the webinar to hear one of the country’s top housing consultants set out the […]
New 2022 Homelessness Template Letters now in HPA2
Andy Gale has completely revised the Homelessness Template Letters available for all officers using Locata’s HPA2 system. Andy Gale has completely revised the Homelessness Template Letters available for all officers using Locata’s HPA2 system. The new 2022 template letters have been updated to reflect changes in caselaw and the statutory Code of Guidance since 2018. The […]
New Rough Sleeper Initiative features to be rolled out
We are about to roll out a new set of features to allow officers to record, monitor and manage applicants being assisted under the Rough Sleeper Initiative. The move follows recommendations from the Locata Development Group, formed from practitioners from 22 councils. The update will be rolled out to all schemes next Wednesday (February 2nd) […]
New Andy Gale toolkits for the prevention of homelessness
Delivering the Homelessness Reduction Act with the new Andy Gale and Locata Preventing Homelessness Toolkits Andy Gale and Locata have joined together to develop a brand-new set of Preventing Homelessness toolkits to help local authorities prepare for the changes following the enactment of the Homelessness Reduction Act on April 3rd, 2018. The Act fundamentally changed […]
New icon highlights status of client in linked lettings system
HA new “house” icon has been added for homelessness applications linked to lettings applications. The move follows recommendations from the Locata Development Group, formed from practitioners from 22 councils. The icon is colour coded so that officers can quickly see whether a case has a linked lettings application. If the icon is green the status […]
New streamlined process for Document Upload
Hertsmere have gone live with a new streamlined document upload process on its Locata CBL system as they felt that that some customers find the current two-step process of uploading and then submitting documents confusing. Cambridgeshire Home-Link scheme is currently testing the new process and is expected to adopt the enhancement soon. The new process […]
Giving officers on the ground control of their IT systems
More and more councils are taking control of their customer facing IT systems and configuring their own workflow processes using Locata’s unique intuitive software. https://youtu.be/sBfpbEV4ul8 A video showing how the “tasks and questions” procedure can help local authority officers design, build and deliver their own workflows Local authority officers are encouraged to develop their own […]
New “Support Needs” Task to be uploaded to HPA2
Following discussions with the Development Group, a change will shortly be rolled out to HPA2 which aims to address the way (and when) Support Needs are captured during a homelessness application. A new task will be added to HPA2 after the “Assessment of Circumstances” where the Support Needs from the People task can be amended […]
Sending out emails to somebody other than the client
Following discussions with the Development Group, a change will shortly be rolled out to HPA2 which aims to address the way (and when) Support Needs are captured during a homelessness application. A new task will be added to HPA2 after the “Assessment of Circumstances” where the Support Needs from the People task can be amended […]
New enhancement helps tidy up workflow lists
A new enhancement that automatically hides cancelled tasks from an officer’s workflow list has been rolled out across the country to users of both HPA2 and Locata’s Housing Related Support (HRS) system. The development was requested and paid for by Lewisham who wanted the enhancement on their HPA2 system, which has recently gone live. This […]
Proof of ID & Validation
The Proof of ID & Validation enhancement has now gone live and is available for those who want to add it to their Locata letting systems processes. The enhancement allows officers to verify identity documents quickly and accurately. We are working with our partner Trust ID to allow fast and accurate checks of driving licenses, […]
HPA2 updated tonight for H-CLIC version 1.5.2
HPA2 will be updated tonight to reflect the latest changes to H-CLIC. The requirements under H-CLIC version 1.5.2 will be deployed overnight on Wednesday, June 30 for all Locata customers. However, we have had to prioritise this update ahead of other planned changes to HPA2. We have therefore decided to make the deployments in two […]
Two new CBL sites go live during lockdown
Two councils have recently gone live with Locata’s Choice Based Lettings system. The London Borough of Lewisham’s Find Your Home scheme and Newcastle-under-Lyme BC’s NHA Options scheme were both built during lockdown. Lewisham has also gone live with Locata’s homelessness module, HPA2, and our Housing Related Support system. The Borough’s CBL site went live in […]
Accessing older versions of a customer’s PHP
Officers using HPA2 can now find previous versions of a customer’s PHP within the customer’s journal. The requirement to be able to find earlier, and subsequently superseded, versions of the PHP was raised within the HPA2 Community Forum when an officer needed to provide a copy to the ombudsman. The new functionality will also be […]
Virtual video tours for property adverts
Kent has gone live with a new enhancement that allows a virtual video tour to be added to the property advert. Once the video has been created it needs to be saved on a video streaming service, such as YouTube or Vimeo. The video can then be uploaded in the “virtual tour HTML” box in […]
Meeting all the public sector website accessibility regulations
Four out of every 10 local council website homepages failed basic tests for accessibility, according to a recent study by the Society for innovation, technology and modernisation (Socitm). However, we have ensured that HPA2 and our related Housing Related Support system (HRS) meet all the accessibility regulations that came into force for public sector bodies […]
Pre-populated Change of Circumstances form
Kent went live on December 1, 2020, with a new enhancement that allows the pre-population of the Change of Circumstances (ChoC) form. This gives customers a form with details of their application already filled in for them to change or add to. This will make the completed ChoC form more accurate, easier to complete and […]
How to deactivate properties that are no longer in use
If a property is no longer in use or not available to the council, you shouldn’t remove it as this will remove the property from any reporting. All you need to do is deactivate the property so that it no longer shows in the list of available properties. How you deactivate a property depends on […]
Eleven Locata services on latest G-Cloud 12 framework
Locata has once again been successful in applying to join the latest G-Cloud 12 framework. This means that we continue to be an official Crown Commercial Service supplier and our products and services can be bought by local authorities through the Digital Marketplace without needing to go through a full tender process – helping save […]
New enhancement to solve second PHP log-in issue
We noticed that two of our partners were discussing an issue on our HPA2 Community Forum about PHP generation in Triage. They had found that after a Triage case was completed and they had sent the customer a second PHP based on all the correct documentation the customer had to open a new Customer Portal […]
New Homeless Date enhancement for HPA2
A new enhancement has been added to HPA2 that provides an estimated homeless date to the people list / case screen. The enhancement was requested, specified and paid for by New Forest District Council to help with their case management process. They have effectively created a new column listing enhancement for all users of HPA2. […]
Locata’s website redesign includes a new video page
Locata has redesigned its company website and introduced a new page for videos demonstrating its housing software. The new page currently has four HPA2 videos that show how the dashboard and help sites work. Each video is just three or four minutes long so that Locata users can easily get the information they require simply […]
Two new enhancements ready for delivery
Locata has launched two new enhancements designed to make the management of housing applicants even more efficient and effective. Both enhancements were flagged up and discussed at the Virtual National Users Group earlier this month and are now available to order. Document Uploads The document upload enhancement is already being used by several schemes across […]
New weekly TA reports
We have deployed an update to the Temporary Accommodation dashboard within HPA2 that gives councils the ability to see information that is required by the MHCLG. This update covers these two items: How many total households in your local authority are single person households in Temporary Accommodation under Housing Act 1996 duties? How many total […]
Virtual NUG attracts officers countrywide
Locata’s first Virtual National User Group was attended by housing and homelessness officers from across the country. The view that participants will have seen on their screens, with Peter Riley talking against his first slide The online meeting was held on the morning of Friday, July 3, allowing participants to join the proceedings from their […]
More schemes keen to use document upload module
Locata’s document upload enhancement is being used by increasing numbers of schemes across the country. The councils forming the West London Locata scheme is the latest to take the update to their CBL system. They follow hot on the heels of other schemes nationwide, including Kent, New Forest and North Herts. There are also several […]
Repeatable tasks in HPA2
The latest update to HPA2 allows tasks to be repeated simply and quickly. This new function also works for tasks that already exist within the system. This should be a big help for entries that may require repeated answers or updates. This might include: Previous Addresses Risk Assessments Tenancy Certificates etc The ability to perform […]
Recording and reporting COVID-19 TA cases
Next week HPA2 will be updated to allow COVID-19 Temporary Accommodation cases to be recorded and reported by H-CLIC. Local authorities have been using their discretionary powers to place cases in temporary accommodation as part of the safeguarding response to the pandemic. Once the deployment has been rolled out, you should record all temporary accommodation […]
Working from home with HPA2
Many homelessness officers are now working from home. However, some officers have had one or two problems logging into HPA2. We have also had reports of officers being suddenly logged out of the system while working on cases. It would appear that the problem is with the Microsoft platform we use for HPA2. So, we […]
Coronavirus and Locata
Following the latest advice from Government on the COVID-19 outbreak, we have made the business decision to restrict face to face contact with our customers, partner organisations and suppliers. Locata’s staff members will work from home until further notice and adopt a working in isolation policy. However, we are still very much open for business […]
Eight new videos on Housing Related Support
Locata has created eight videos demonstrating how our Housing Related Support (HRS) module works. We filmed the videos after receiving many requests for access to the Housing Related Support system following the module’s recent launch in Cheshire East. Locata’s Corinne Copeland and Andy Glaves wrote the scripts for the videos that all feature Corinne as […]
More exciting developments from Locata
We are currently working on many interesting new products and innovative business tools. For instance, we are now putting the MHCLG data quality reports into HPA2. Each quarter the MHCLG send you, the local authorities, the following five QA reports: 1. Initial assessments 2. Prevention 3. Relief 4. Main duty 5. Temporary accommodation These reports […]
Locata in 2020 and beyond
Now a new year has begun, we felt it was a good time to send you updates on all the new products and innovative business tools we are working on. It’s going to be an exciting decade… Housing Related Support (HRS) was released late in 2019 and has already been taken up by three partners. […]
Development Group helps decide new HPA2 enhancements
Three new enhancements have now gone live on the HPA2 system. These enhancements were built following recommendations from the HPA2 Development Group, which met earlier this year to consider a series of proposed improvements to the system suggested by users all over the country. Each enhancement requires investment, so the Development Group ranked the suggestions […]
New Housing Related Support system launched
Locata is ready to roll out its new Housing Related Support (HRS) system across the country. The new launch was created in partnership with housing practitioners from Cheshire East who wanted a way to link applicants directly to support services. The system went live in Cheshire East four weeks ago and acts as a referral […]
The “pick ‘n mix” PHPs on a computer near you
Homelessness officers using the Locata HPA2 system have a new facility that should make it quicker and easier to create well-constructed Personal Housing Plans. We have uploaded into every partner’s system a set of possible actions an officer could include in an applicant’s plan as well as actions for the relief duty split by single […]
What’s best for mobiles – Apps or Responsive Websites?
Just under nine out of ten people (86%) use a mobile device for accessing housing and homelessness services run by Locata for local authorities across the country. Analysis of the hundreds of thousands of interactions each year by customers of Locata’s 135 local authority partners clearly shows the importance of a good mobile strategy to […]
Locata’s new SNUG and NNUG
The first meetings of Locata’s two new National User’s Groups have been held in Manchester and London during September. More than 50 delegates from scores of local authorities attended each of the meetings. The original National Users Group (NUG) has met twice a year for more than 10 years. However, following the recent success of […]
HPA2 Validators will cut down H-CLIC upload errors
New HPA2 Validators have been developed to help local authorities eliminate errors when trying to upload homelessness data to the MHCLG’s Delta Schematron. Many local authorities have suffered hundreds of errors as they attempted to upload their H-CLIC returns for Quarter 1. The Delta Schematron has not been particularly stable since launch and the validation […]
Locata progresses to new G-Cloud 10
Keeping costs down as an official Crown Commercial Service supplier on the Digital Marketplace The latest version of the G-Cloud framework has been launched offering the very latest cloud technology and digital support to organisations across the public sector. The new G-Cloud 10 services became available on the Digital Marketplace from Monday 2 July 2018. […]
New AdviceAid service delivers expert HRACT advice
A new service has been launched that delivers tailored, quality advice for local authorities meeting their duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. The on-line tool provides an easy to use online database of advice snippets covering tenant rights and rights of occupation, benefits, harassment and illegal eviction, S21 notices, debt, rent and mortgage arrears, […]
The Homelessness Reduction Act – The first 100 days will set the culture for a generation
Homelessness staff across the country are generally very enthusiastic about the changes the new legislation will bring when it goes live in April, but many aren’t ready to apply the new law to actual cases, according to Andy Gale, Housing Consultant. Speaking at Locata’s annual housing event in Bristol on March 23, he told delegates […]
HPA2 webinars draws homelessness officers from around the country
Homelessness officers from 72 different local authorities and RPs across the country attended Locata’s two webinars demonstrating our upgraded Homelessness Prevention and Advice system. The webinars were held on November 16 and December 4, 2017. Both webinars included live demonstrations of Locata’s improved HPA2 homelessness system that has been upgraded to meet all the requirements […]
Locata wins Productivity and Innovation in Business Award
Locata team members Janette Boyle, Alan White, Sarah Sidhu and Iain Silverton receive the Productivity and Innovation in Business Award from award’s host Konnie Huq, the former Blue Peter presenter. Photo: Stephen Johnson Photography Locata Housing Services has won the Productivity and Innovation in Business Award at the West London Business Awards 2017. The Award […]
Locata wins Technology Business of the Year Award for second year running
Locata Housing Services has won the Technology Business Award of the Year for the second year in a row at the West London Business Awards 2015. The Award was presented to Peter Riley and his team at a gala dinner in London where Locata was also highly commended in the Innovation in Business Award and […]