How Eastlight Homes cut OPEX by 34% and raised resident satisfaction with digital access

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Keys were disrupting property operations

Eastlight Community Homes, a resident-led housing association in the East of England, faced significant challenges in managing access to their 550 blocks and 14,000 homes.

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We often had to drive for hours just to open doors for customers who lost their key or forgot their code - Stephen Pettit,
Estate Safety Manager

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Eastlight grappled with persistent access and communal compliance issues. Keys, fobs, and key safe boxes had been used inconsistently over time, with no clear access strategy in place.

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Problems with access 25% of the time

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When someone needed entry to a building, like a cleaner or for a fire safety inspection, issues with the key safe—such as incorrect codes or missing keys and fobs—disrupted operations and posed compliance risks.

Non-compliance due to no-access incidents occurred 25% of the time, leading to logistical challenges and some security concerns.

On average, resolving these access issues took 4.5 days. Factoring in the physical costs of keys, fobs, and copies, access management was consuming an estimated 14,000 hours and £545,000 annually.

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Unloc as a product and as an app it’s safe, it’s secure and it’s effortless. It really is that easy to install and use - Taryn Paton,
Head of Compliance & Estates

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A need to streamline operations

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Eastlight had two primary objectives:

• Streamline their access process to reduce time
  spent on access-related issues!
• Enhance compliance and building safety.
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The goal was to eliminate no-access incidents, improve overall compliance, and reduce the associated costs.

These objectives were driven by the need to address a 25% non-compliance rate and mitigate the security risks linked to the use of keys, fobs and key safe boxes. ‍

The solution was mobile access.

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From enabling Unloc on our apartment blocks, we’ve reduced our annual OPEX by 34%, in addition to increasing satisfaction. The business case is a no-brainer. - Charlotte Todd, Executive Property Director, Eastlight

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Retrofit enabled doors to be opened from a phone

To tackle the access and compliance issues, Eastlight partnered with Unloc, a hardware-agnostic software provider of digital access. This collaboration aimed to implement digital locks across their communal spaces.

The project began with a pilot on 60 blocks, which involved retrofitting an invisible Bluetooth module into communal entrance doors and installing an electronic key turner (also invisible externally) on some of their empty properties doors for ease of works access.

This technology enabled doors to be opened via a mobile phone. Additionally, Eastlight’s Estate Safety Team gained access to Unloc’s administration platform, allowing them to centrally manage and control access, ensuring that the right individuals had access to the right doors at the right times.

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"I had been waiting weeks for a physical key I had ordered. When I got the digital key I was up and running the same day. Incredible!” - Resident

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Access granted in seconds for over 150 staff & contractors

Before partnering with Unloc, resolving access issues took an average of 4.5 days, costing Eastlight an estimated 14,000 hours and £545,000 annually.

With Unloc's solution, access is now granted in seconds for over 150 contractors and staff.

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• 0% no-access issues and 100% compliance
  ‍on blocks where Unloc was installed.
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• 34% annual OPEX savings
  from reduced hardware costs (locks, keys, fobs), fewer contractor invoices from no access incidents, and decreased petrol usage.
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• £312,000 in annual labour cost savings
  by reducing travel time and logistics related challenges, freeing up five days per month for three full time employees.
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• 500 miles less driven per month by one team,
  translating to a reduction of 1.6 tCO2e annually.
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• Increased staff satisfaction
  due to the elimination of worries about lost keys and the hassle associated with obtaining replacement keys.
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• Resource reallocation
  Eastlight has shifted its focus from resolving operational challenges to pursuing more strategic and impactful tasks, significantly enhancing their overall efficiency.

Encouraged by the success of the initial implementation, Eastlight is ready for a keyless future by rolling out Unlocs mobile keys solution across 100% of their portfolio within the next 12 months.

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