The German housing industry is in the midst of radical change. One of the challenges it faces is digitalisation. Our study "Digitalisation of the housing industry" revealed which digitalisation projects have been implemented by companies in the sector and which promising opportunities have so far only been used by a few.
Digitalisation needs its own budgets
The aim of the study was to find out what digitalisation means for companies in the sector and which technologies they are already using. We also wanted to know which digital solutions they consider relevant to their business - now and in the future.
The following insights into the degree of digitalisation can be gained from the survey:
- The majority of participants stated that their housing company is partially digitalised. The larger the company, the further it is on the way to being highly or predominantly digitalised.
- The degree of digitalisation is higher in companies that have a separate budget for digitalisation projects. However, these budgets are not always available.
- Companies in which responsibility for digitalisation projects lies with a CDO or the IT department are more digital than companies in which the management is solely responsible.
Strategy: important, but hardly available
An ERP system is standard in companies. For many, however, it is already outdated. Nevertheless, only a few are planning to change their system soon.
As the survey shows, most companies (84 per cent) consider a digitalisation strategy to be important or very important - but less than half have one. At the same time, almost all survey participants see risks in digitalisation, but only a few analyse and evaluate these systematically. The most frequently cited risks are data protection requirements and data security as well as the expertise of the company's own employees. Nevertheless, almost two thirds of companies rely on their employees' own initiative rather than centrally organised measures to build up their knowledge.
PropTech is hardly an issue
We asked the participants which technologies they already use - with a focus on digital solutions for process support (e.g. ticket systems and reporting tools) and modern data management (e.g. tenant/customer scoring and smart metering). We also wanted to know to what extent they use digital communication channels such as bots and social media.
The results show: Tools that have been available for several years, such as mobile apps and cloud solutions, are primarily used. Most companies focus their digitalisation projects primarily on the needs of their customers and internal process optimisation, rather than on available technologies. In particular, the "PropTech hype" often described in the media has so far only reached the housing industry to a limited extent.
Conclusion: New technologies and disruptive changes are not the focus of the industry. There are numerous technical solutions that could advance the housing industry, but have so far been adopted with restraint.
