Is there a CRM for supported housing?

Yes. Supported housing providers use three kinds of CRM: general CRM platforms such as Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, customised for them; housing CRMs built for housing associations' tenants, rents and repairs; and supported housing software that works as a CRM built around residents and their support. For most supported and exempt accommodation providers, a supported housing CRM fits best, because the records that matter are the resident's needs assessment, support plan, risk assessment, support sessions and reviews, not sales or repairs.

People search for this in many ways: CRM for supported housing, supported housing CRM, supported accommodation CRM, exempt accommodation CRM, resident management system or case management software for supported housing. They usually mean the same thing: one place to keep everything about each resident.

What a CRM means in supported housing

A CRM, or customer relationship management system, keeps a record of every person an organisation works with and every interaction with them. In supported housing, the "customer" is the resident, and the relationship is their support.

Supported housing CRM vs case management vs housing management

Many providers use a supported housing CRM alongside a finance or housing system for rent and repairs.

What a supported housing CRM should hold for each resident

• Their details, once. Name, date of birth, National Insurance number, contacts, GP, next of kin and the agencies involved, entered once and used everywhere.
• Their home. The property and room, and their history of moves.
• Their support workers. Who supports them, including cover when a worker is away.
• Their assessments and plans. Needs assessment, support plan with goals, risk assessment, each signed and dated.
• Every interaction. Support sessions, calls, letters and visits, dated and signed, with evidence attached.
• What is coming up. Appointments, review dates and documents still to sign.
• Their documents. Licence agreement, Housing Benefit forms, fire safety induction, rights and every other form, in one file.
• What has changed. Who recorded what and when, with every earlier version kept.

And for the provider, across every resident: who needs attention first, which reviews are overdue, which documents are missing, and outcomes over a period.

Building on Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics

Some larger providers build a supported housing CRM on Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics 365, often with a specialist partner.

• What it gives you: a flexible platform, strong reporting and links to other systems your organisation already uses.
• What you build yourself: every supported housing form, the logic that books reviews from a support plan, signatures, PDF records, the evidence councils ask for, and how support workers use it on a phone in a resident's home.
• What it costs: licences per user, plus a partner to design, build and maintain it, and staff time to keep it up to date as rules change.

For a small or medium provider, software already built for supported housing usually costs less and is working much sooner.

Questions to ask before choosing a supported housing CRM

1. Which supported housing forms does it include, and can support workers complete them in a resident's home, on a phone?
2. Does it book support plan and risk assessment reviews automatically?
3. Can residents sign records on screen?
4. Can I download one resident's whole file, or everything from a period, when a council asks?
5. Does it show me, across every resident, what is overdue or missing?
6. How is it priced: per user, per resident or per property? Are support workers included?
7. Where is our data stored, and how do we get all of it out if we leave?
8. How long does it take to set up, and how do we bring our existing paper files across?

Our guide to choosing supported housing software covers data protection checks and more questions to ask.

Residoc: a supported housing CRM built around residents

Residoc is supported housing software for providers and managing agents in England. It works as a CRM built around each resident and their support.

• A directory of every resident. Residents lists everyone you support, searchable by name or address, and sorts those needing attention to the top when you choose.
• Each resident's whole picture. Their details, home, support workers, goals, appointments and records in one place, with more than one support worker where support is shared or covered.
• More info for what no form asks. Medication, logins a worker helps with and anything else worth knowing, kept against the resident.
• Every interaction recorded. Support sessions completed as a guided conversation and signed on screen, and a contact log for everything in between, with photo evidence.
• Everything coming up. A calendar of appointments and reviews, booked automatically from each support plan and risk assessment, and a Briefing of each worker's day.
• More than 20 supported housing forms. From move-in to exit, each filed as a signed PDF.
• Oversight for providers. Outstanding documents and overdue reviews for every current resident, outcomes over a period, each worker's caseload and an activity log of every change.
• Answers from the records. Guide, Residoc's AI assistant, answers questions about a resident from the records on their file.
• Priced per resident. Your whole team is included, support workers and managers alike, from £3.25 per resident per week. See pricing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best CRM for supported housing?

One built around residents and their support rather than sales or repairs: needs assessments, support plans, risk assessments, support sessions and reviews, signed and kept together, with reviews booked automatically. Ask any supplier which forms it includes and try it on real work before deciding.

Is there a CRM for exempt accommodation?

Yes. Supported housing software works as a CRM for exempt accommodation, keeping the evidence councils look for on Housing Benefit claims: each resident's needs assessment, signed support plan and support session records.

What is the difference between a CRM and case management software?

A CRM keeps a record of every person and every interaction. Case management software organises work into cases, often with referrals and outcomes across agencies. Supported housing software combines both around the resident: their details and contacts, plus their support plan, sessions and reviews.

Can I use Salesforce for supported housing?

Yes, with customisation, usually by a specialist partner. You would need to build the supported housing forms, review booking, signatures, PDF records and mobile use yourself, so it suits larger providers with a budget for development.

Is a housing management system a CRM?

Partly. Housing management systems keep tenants' details and contacts, but are built around rent, repairs and property. Most do not hold support plans, session records and reviews, which supported housing providers need.

Do support workers use the CRM?

They should, because they create most of the records. A supported housing CRM should let support workers complete records during the visit, on a phone or tablet, and be priced so the whole team is included.

How much does a supported housing CRM cost?

Suppliers charge per user, per resident or per property. Residoc charges per resident per week, from £3.25 billed annually, with your whole team included and a free trial. Try it for free.

Can I move from spreadsheets to a supported housing CRM?

Yes. Bring each existing resident's records across rather than asking them to sign everything again. In Residoc, existing paper files are copied in one part of one form at a time.