Challenge: Speed, scale, and safeguarding
At the outset of the crisis, the immediate need was for a working digital service that could be used by members of the public and local authorities. The public required a safe and simple way to offer to host individuals and families, while local authorities needed tools to manage applications, safeguarding checks and ongoing casework.
The service had to operate at national scale across all local authorities in England, securely handle highly sensitive personal and safeguarding data relating to vulnerable people, and support delivery across central government and local authorities. All of this had to be achieved amid heightened international tensions, intense media scrutiny, and extreme time pressure.
The initial emergency response relied on an existing proprietary legacy platform, which came with escalating support costs of £ millions per year and limited departmental control over system data and code.
In the longer term, MHCLG wanted to reduce dependence on this legacy system and implement a more flexible technology solution that would enable them to control system data and code and ensure the service met high standards of security, resilience, governance, and usability.
Failure to deliver quickly and safely would have directly affected people seeking refuge and the local authorities’ ability to respond effectively.
Our approach: Deliver now, build for the future
Working as a blended team, MHCLG led on strategy, policy, and safeguarding, while Made Tech served as the lead delivery partner, responsible for shaping, building, and operating the service across two phases.
Successful delivery depended on both organisations working seamlessly as a single multidisciplinary team.
Phase 1: Emergency response
We mobilised our teams immediately, redeploying specialists from other programmes to meet this urgent national need. An initial working service was delivered within days, with a full live service operational within weeks.
This phase focused on enabling national operations at pace, including secure application journeys and integration with an existing data platform to support case management and safeguarding checks. The service supported national rollout across England’s local authorities and enabled thousands of applications during peak demand.
The project delivery took place under extreme time constraints while maintaining appropriate safeguards for highly sensitive personal data.
Phase 2: A sustainable replacement platform
Once the initial service was live, the joint MHCLG and Made Tech team began designing and delivering a full end-to-end replacement for the proprietary legacy platform. Working against a tight deadline, we delivered the new platform in approximately 10 months.
A core technical architectural decision was to adopt Databricks as a unified orchestration and governance engine. This enabled the team to replicate existing data workflows and pipelines with significantly higher reliability, while improving transparency, resilience and operational control.
Databricks’ built-in governance capabilities, including Unity Catalog, were used to implement consistent data access controls and auditability. This ensured strict safeguarding requirements were met while enabling appropriate data access for analytical and operational use across central government and local authorities.
The wider technology stack was deliberately built using modern, well-supported open standards, languages and frameworks. This ensured interoperability across government systems, minimised vendor lock-in and reduced long-term cost exposure to a proprietary system. The resulting service is fully owned, operated and extendable by MHCLG to other programmes as may be required.
Putting users and security first
We focused on simplifying user journeys for local authority staff, reducing administrative effort and lowering the training burden for new users.
Local authority feedback highlighted improved usability:
“It’s simplicity – very user friendly system.”
“Ease of use for officers recording checks. It is very straightforward.”
“Good training on the lead up to the change-over. Good follow up once the change over took place.”
We treated security and safeguarding as first-class requirements throughout delivery. The service meets MHCLG’s stringent internal controls, including GDS standards and WCAG accessibility requirements, alongside external independent testing such as penetration testing.
Results and impact
Our work delivered measurable strategic and operational value for MHCLG. By replacing the proprietary legacy platform, the department avoided around £15 million in costs, reduced ongoing support and operational spend, and regained full control of its data, architecture and delivery roadmap. This transition was completed while meeting fixed contractual deadlines and maintaining live service continuity.
Local authorities benefit from a simpler, more intuitive service that improved efficiency and reduced onboarding and training time. Documented APIs and open standards improve interoperability, while the delivery approach created a reusable service model that can be applied to future resettlement and emergency schemes.
For service users, the new platform enables faster, clearer application processing and reduced administrative delays, with stronger support for sensitive and safeguarding-led cases.
Across the wider public sector, this project demonstrates that moving away from deeply embedded legacy technology is achievable at pace. It strengthened in-house capability through knowledge transfer and established reusable data integrations and delivery patterns for future policy services.
What’s next
Enabling faster, more cost-efficient and sustainable solutions
The Homes for Ukraine digital service provides a strong, reusable foundation for future housing, resettlement and emergency accommodation programmes.
Its architecture, governance model and open standards enable government to respond more quickly, securely and cost-effectively to future crises without rebuilding services from scratch.
Active consideration is underway regarding reuse of the service for future housing or emergency accommodation schemes within MHCLG and local authorities.
