June 3, 2024
Land and Property insights mapping for delivering safe and healthy homes
To fulfil their mission of providing homes that are future-focused, healthy, and safe, many housing providers are conducting data-driven portfolio reviews. They are merging property data with location to gain a comprehensive understanding of their estates.
This article explains what insights Housing Associations are gaining with Ordnance Survey® (OS) data and visualising buildings information in a map.
Assessing the fabric of properties can highlight risks, and where there are opportunities to invest, regenerate and modernise. However, building portfolios can be incredibly diverse in terms of location, age, type, and efficiency. Gathering data on existing properties without being intrusive can be a challenge, and relying on tables and graphs to interpret data can be cumbersome and rarely presents the full picture.
Applying spatial data can be far more effective. Ordnance Survey is Great Britain’s national mapping agency, providing accurate and up-to-date geographic data. Its National Geographic Database (NGD) is designed to be readily accessible and provide deeper insight. As an Ordnance Survey Premium Partner, who has supported OS data for over 25 years, we can affirm that this is true of its recently enhanced OS NGD Buildings data.
There are many useful feature attributes contained within the OS NGD Buildings data. For instance, ‘Construction Material’ and ‘Period of Construction’ provide invaluable information on the physical characteristics of buildings. There are various ways to visualise this data on a map, and I am going to share a couple of techniques using the Geographic Information System (GIS) Cadcorp SIS, as well as how to display this data in a meaningful way.
Construction Material and creating a risk index
OS NGD Buildings data is feature-rich, detailing the composition and construction materials of buildings. It can serve as a backdrop for monitoring the efficiency of existing stock, identifying underperforming assets, and prioritising areas of investment.
Additional attributes such as Address Count, Basement Presence, and Connectivity to other buildings can also be used to create an index assessing the vulnerability and risk to tenants. The occupancy of a dwelling would come from the Housing Association’s internal business systems, and this can be especially useful when analysing the effects of flooding. This additional information goes beyond the basics of identifying properties within a flood zone but the buildings where risk might be greater due to their basement presence and connectivity to other buildings. The results can be used to support a variety of projects such as fire safety remediation and other building safety works.
Period of Construction (building age) and thematic mapping
Older properties are less likely to have good, or possibly any insulation, cavity walls or double-glazed windows. Damp and mould can happen anywhere. However, organisations can base preventative measures programmes on the physical characteristics of their properties and use this insight to anticipate where issues are likely to occur before they arise. This data can be further manipulated with web mapping. Cadcorp SIS WebMap allows the user to view, interrogate and publish data as well as explore data layers using themes. Themes are particularly useful when visualising how a measurement varies across a geographic area.
Themes can be used to highlight potential reductions in environmental impact and potentially, service fees for tenants — for example, by ascertaining where energy-efficient lighting could be installed in communal areas. Additionally, since poor lighting can contribute to anti-social behaviour, implementing a theme enables Housing Associations to identify areas where improvement programmes would be most beneficial.
Overall, direct access to OS NGD Buildings data within a GIS provides a more flexible way to intelligently manage assets across estates. It is suitable for housing providers with a fabric-first approach and provides multiple insights that can be applied to raising safety standards and improving living costs for tenants.
