Start with the evidence your service must produce
A long feature list does not prove a system will work for supported housing. Start with real journeys: a new referral, a certificate renewal, a safeguarding concern, an underpaid Housing Benefit line and an outcome review. Ask each supplier to demonstrate those journeys from start to finish.
The strongest product makes good practice easier, preserves accountability and gives managers oversight without forcing support workers to duplicate records.
Must-have features checklist
| Area | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Resident journey | Referral, assessment, risk, placement, support plan, sessions, reviews, outcomes and move-on in one record |
| Frontline usability | A session can be recorded on a phone in a couple of minutes |
| Safeguarding | Concerns recorded separately with restricted access and a management trail |
| Property assurance | Rooms, occupancy, certificates, inspections, repairs and expiry alerts |
| Housing Benefit | Expected vs actual income, payment file matching, correspondence and arrears |
| Reporting | Evidence packs for councils, commissioners and boards without manual rebuilding |
| Security | Separated customer data, role-based access, audit logs, backups and data export |
Questions to ask every supplier
Fit
- Is the product built for supported housing, or adapted from care homes, home care or property management?
- Can you show housing-related support without personal care fields getting in the way?
Evidence and regulation
- How would we answer a council’s exempt accommodation evidence request from the system?
- How will the product support the National Supported Housing Standards and licensing?
Data and security
- Where is our data hosted, who can access it, and is there a data processing agreement?
- Can we export all our data at any time, in a usable format?
Commercials
- What is the total cost over three years, including implementation, training and support?
- What is the minimum term, and is there a break clause?
Pricing models compared
| Model | Works well when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Per user | A small, stable team | Costs rise as you hire; staff share logins to save money |
| Per resident or bed | Teams grow with the service | Check how voids and short stays are counted |
| Per site or scheme | Few large schemes | Can be expensive for dispersed, small properties |
| Flat licence | Very large organisations | High upfront cost and long contracts |
Red flags
- The demo uses slides instead of the live product.
- No clear answer on how you get your data back if you leave.
- Supported housing is “on the roadmap” rather than in the product.
- Implementation is described only as “quick and easy”, with no written plan.
Implementation checklist
- Named project lead on both sides
- Data cleansed before migration (residents, properties, rooms, rent)
- Workflows and user roles agreed before configuration
- Role-based training for frontline staff and managers
- Acceptance checks: can we complete each real journey end to end?
- Data protection impact assessment and data processing agreement in place
- Exit plan agreed in writing
Where Evidwell fits
Evidwell is built for UK supported housing and exempt accommodation providers delivering housing-related support. It connects resident support, property compliance, Housing Benefit and evidence reporting, with unlimited staff accounts and per-resident pricing from £399/month. See the platform, supported living software or book a demo with your own scenarios.