Artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to flag issues with council homes before they become critical.<\/p>\n
Researchers at the University of Cambridge are developing the new AI tool alongside Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council.<\/p>\n
It will scan data from thousands of properties and flag the ones most likely to deteriorate, as well as the residents who could be harmed.<\/p>\n
“This is just a starting point, but we hope it can be replicated across different councils across the country,” said Prof Ronita Bardhan.<\/p>\n
The tool would combine three sources of data into a single risk score for each property, the university said.<\/p>\n
It includes systems that can detect heat loss from buildings, using thermal imagery captured by satellites.<\/p>\n
Conventional housing data, such as Energy Performance Certificates, and anonymised records of contacts between councils and their tenants will also be factored in.<\/p>\n
Researchers said the data would feed into a dashboard displaying a map of “risk hotspots”.<\/p>\n
However, Bardhan said welfare decisions would stay with trained council officers.<\/p>\n
Peter Campbell, head of housing at the South Cambridgeshire authority, said having access to better data could make his teams more efficient.<\/p>\n
“At the moment we’re very much waiting for things to break before we act,” he explained.<\/p>\n
He said damage often had a knock-on effect on other parts of people’s homes.<\/p>\n
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