Socially engaged housing

A home is not a home until it feels personal, safe and familiar

Social housing is more than just bricks and mortar, the service involved in offering tenants a home is wide-ranging and always evolving.


John Eijssen - Account Executive

Socially engaged, with a view to sustainability, safety and accessibility

Striking a balance in the interest of the tenant and the landlord
Socially engaged, with a view to sustainability, safety and accessibility are key aspects that play a role in all social housing associations. Housing rental involves many aspects. Rental not only involves the house itself, but also everything relating to it, with the tenant always being at the centre, without exception. The social character means an above-average desire to ensure that the rental of a house – and therefore the offer of a home – is and remains affordable.

What's more, the housing association market is subject to strict rules. Being accountable and taking responsibility are solidly embedded. This responsibility is deeply embedded in the case of the housing association staff, as is their engagement with the tenant. Conversely, however, the involvement and responsibility are not always present in the case of the tenant. How do you strike a good balance in such a case? No easy task.

Turnaround in the use of self-built legacy applications
Over the years, the system landscape in the case of housing associations has become increasingly complex. A characteristic feature is the many self-built legacy applications in use, but this too is changing. Complexity reduction is nearly always a consideration. The rise of DevOps and Agile is resulting in a gradual reduction in complexity and an acceleration in the development of functionality sharing. The cloud is a real enabler in this respect. On the other hand, there is a risk that the housing association market will be swamped by point solutions that in combination may result in new complexity. Examples include exchange formats, the rise of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and the governance surrounding data handling.

Clear vision of a constantly relevant workplace
Offering a development methodology (DevOps), as well as a security framework and approach, are part of the core services of Open Line. Complement this with a clear vision of a constantly relevant workplace and real service with a personal touch, and all the ingredients for a great partnership are in place. Open Line is familiar with the need for quality and compliance with strict requirements, which also have to be met by housing associations, as is evident from the NEN and ISO certifications obtained by Open Line.

The Open Line market promise
But the most important is our market promise: we are closely engaged with our clients and staff. The balance we offer between a personal and a digital service in this regard is entirely consistent with the balance that housing associations also seek in their service. Excellent ingredients, therefore, for enhancing the service relationship and learning from one another.