MRI Software responds to CHP's need for better technology to automate and manage Australia's social sector housing demands

Australian first: private sector software tailored to meet unique regulatory needs of social, affordable and disability housing management professionals – starting with NSW and QLD

SYDNEY, July 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Australia's affordable, social and disability housing sector now has access to a purpose-built technology solution from MRI Software, a global leader in property technology (PropTech) and services. MRI Palace is now available to Community Housing Providers (CHPs) in New South Wales and Queensland, with other states and territories soon to follow. The solution includes reporting, compliance and automated housing and tenancy management capabilities unique to the complex sector and built-in behind its "simply sophisticated" design.

An Australian first, the social sector-specific MRI Palace offers automated workflows, interactive dashboards for task prioritisation, reporting, and customisable fields to support sector-specific compliance and regulatory requirements. The software also includes features first designed for the private sector like automated maintenance management, invoicing and payment capabilities, advanced business intelligence tools, and a mobile property inspection app that allows CHPs to take photos and videos on-site to be immediately available in the platform.

David Bowie, Senior Vice President and Executive Managing Director for MRI Software in Asia Pacific remarks, "Australia has ambitious social and affordable housing future targets, and an urgent supply and demand crisis right now. Our social sector deserves all the advantages MRI technology already delivers to the private real estate industry, like predictability, transparency and efficiency – but customised to their uniquely complex scenarios. We believe scaling proven PropTech solutions like MRI Palace to be affordable and accessible for CHPs is not just beneficial to the sector – fit-for-purpose technology solutions are essential for our nation to accelerate creating and managing more diverse and thriving communities."

Sean Fogarty, Director of Social Housing Solutions, Asia Pacific at MRI Software adds, "Often what we hear in conversations with sector professionals is that existing technology solutions are overcomplicated, over the hill, and overpriced, in their opinions. They consider what we are doing with Palace to be a welcome disruption to the status quo. We are taking an intuitive and widely used private residential product with a rich partner ecosystem and launching it into the social and affordable housing sector. We believe this sector deserves the same capabilities as the private sector but as a cost-effective, more simply sophisticated solution.

"People outside the sector may not realise the huge and complex workload CHPs handle. The work they do is critical to our nation. The media and public are more attuned to the political and economic imperative of creating and managing housing for essential workers and our most vulnerable. It's a modern crisis that deserves tech innovation, and we're privileged to be part of the solution," he says.

The new cloud-based MRI Palace solution means a property manager can record, track and manage their clients, properties, and tenancies' details and history from anywhere. Property inspections and maintenance management can now be done on site with photo and video reports. Every property has its own record, with the ability to easily click and explore extra information like rent arrears, funding source, terms of local or state government agreements, vacancy stages, and any support services linked with the tenancies, for example.

In keeping with MRI's open and connected approach to software, MRI Palace functionality integrates with other MRI products, partner tools and third-party technologies. Integrations and automated workflows streamline several processes, including:

• Maintenance management, covering all aspects of property maintenance accessible within MRI Palace on a personalised dashboard.
• Document management, centralising all lease agreements, contracts, and other documents in one, easy-to-use digital solution with online signature capabilities.
• Invoices and payments, auto-matching bank transactions and using smart AI-powered workflow to process invoices and payments all within MRI Palace.

Key features that stand out in early feedback from Australian CHPs include:

• API integrations into a rich partner ecosystem, providing the means to securely connect with other software and digital platforms (like online banking) valued by each organisation.
• Interactive personalised dashboards, enabling property managers to easily monitor their property portfolios, drill into details, prioritise tasks and set automated reminders.
• Automation Hub efficiently manages processes like arrears (Rent and Invoices) by creating user-managed and scheduled automation rules.
• Business Insights, breaking down portfolio performance by office, region, and property manager. Track trends, KPIs, and comparative analysis over time.
• Mobile inspection app (Apple and Android), allowing photos and video to be uploaded from onsite inspections straight into MRI Palace.

"Built on decades of experience and extensive client feedback, this social sector version of MRI Palace is designed to meet the specific needs of housing managers and make their lives easier. They are often frustrated with heavy workloads, juggling numerous tenancies, and keeping up with complex legislation compliance. Bottom line: it makes the mammoth task of managing Australia's social and affordable stock more achievable and transparent," says Fogarty.

Availability
The new functionality in MRI Palace for social, affordable and disability housing providers and property managers is available now to CHPs in Queensland and New South Wales, and will be rolled out in Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory and West Australia soon.

An online demonstration for CHPs is available on demand from https://www.mrisoftware.com/au/resources/introducing-mri-palace-to-housing-providers/.

Visit mrisoftware.com/au for more details.

Media Contact
Lisa Csapo
Director, Brand & Strategic Programs, Asia Pacific 
[email protected]
0411040416

Sean Fogarty, Director of Social Housing Solutions, Asia Pacific at MRI Software, says "We are taking an intuitive and widely used private residential product with a rich partner ecosystem and launching it into the social and affordable housing sector. We believe this sector deserves the same capabilities as the private sector."

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