Case Study Bespoke Cost Calculator Kineara Housing

Although we continually develop and maintain our standard tool we also create bespoke versions to meet specific needs of clients such as that of Kineara Housing.  Kineara are providing intensive family support for some of their tenants and they identified a need to demonstrate savings specifically from a housing perspective as well as wider savings to the public purse, value for money and additional social benefits of the service.

In 2012/13 we designed an initial bespoke Cost Calculator specifically to meet their needs including:

• Having a primary focus to demonstrate cost savings to housing providers using localised data and the ability to change data sets. Cost savings demonstrated any reduction in rent arrears, predicted the costs of doing nothing (e.g. likely rent arrears without intervention), other costs/savings associated with ASB, damage to property, warnings, serving notices and eviction.
• The ability to show the percentage of families that set up a payment plan and/or those in credit at end of the programme.
• The ability to demonstrate additional savings and value for money on a range of data including reducing other debts, improving school attendance, families returning to work, reduction in benefit claims, effective use of health services. 
• The ability to identify individual cases as well as calculate costs and savings for their 10 week programme with 10 families,  demonstrating value for money per project.
• The ability to show breakdown of operational costs and for user to be able to change as required.
• Incorporating Kineara branding using logo and colours within design to support business development and promotion.

We subsequently worked with Kineara in 2014 as their needs changed and we worked flexibly with their team to tailor content, design and functionality to meet new agendas and funding streams.