How we Seamlessly Migrated Choice Housing's CMS in Record Time
Delivering Three Innovative Umbraco Websites
As the largest housing association in Northern Ireland, it is imperative that Choice Housing has digital platforms that are reliable, robust, and capable of serving users as effectively as Choice serve tenants. Their expansion into private tenancies, following the acquisition of Maple & May, further reinforced the need for a united digital approach that could support multiple organisations and audiences without compromising performance, security, or user experience.
The Challenge
While the task largely concerned upgrading legacy websites running on Umbraco 7, the challenge was broader than a CMS migration. Choice Housing required a partner with the in-house capability to design, build and continually refine digital experiences, from core corporate websites to time-critical Major Incident and Major Emergency communications, within established corporate and digital brand guidelines.
Working with outdated platforms always results in complications. Since Umbraco 7’s release in 2013, both .NET and C# have evolved significantly. Newer platforms leverage .NET Core and modern C# standards to deliver substantial improvements in performance, security, and code quality. Any new solution needed to balance modern engineering with accessible design and flexibility to support future digital campaigns.
We upgrade with the future in mind.
Codiance’s experience in the housing and public sector informed our assessment of Choice Housing’s digital estate. With budgets rightly focused on supporting communities, the organisation needed platforms that minimised ongoing maintenance while maximising usability and adaptability. This led to the implementation of a modern, supported technology stack built on .NET Core, alongside a design system that could flex across multiple sites, services, and campaign needs.
Rather than treating the work as a simple technical uplift, we approached it as a broader digital design and development programme. This included rethinking information architecture, improving accessibility, and ensuring each site met user expectations across devices. The result was a seamless user experience underpinned by clean, performant engineering and future-ready foundations.
Going above expectations, always.
Due to the scale of change between legacy and modern platforms, this was not a lift-and-shift exercise. Pages, templates and components were individually reviewed, rewritten and refined. This allowed us to remove obsolete dependencies, address historical inconsistencies, and introduce modern front-end development practices using HTML, CSS and JavaScript to deliver dynamic, engaging interfaces.
This approach also enabled the development of reusable components and layouts that support creative, digitally engaging website campaigns to agreed briefs. Internal teams are now able to launch new content, microsites and campaign activity quickly, while remaining fully aligned to corporate brand guidelines.
Even with modern platforms, large-scale digital change carries risk - particularly around content integrity, performance and availability. This was especially critical for Choice Housing, where websites also play a role in Major Incident and Major Emergency communications.
Efficiency, without sacrificing quality.
To accelerate delivery without compromising quality, we combined experienced .NET engineers, digital designers and UX specialists with automation and agentic AI-assisted workflows. This reduced manual overheads, allowing the team to focus on higher-value activity such as interaction design, performance optimisation, and refining critical user journeys.
Crucially, this approach supported the continual development and refinement of Major Incident and Major Emergency websites. Content structures and publishing workflows were designed to allow rapid updates, clear messaging and immediate visibility when incidents occur, while remaining dormant and unobtrusive during normal operation.
A platform designed to evolve.
The outcome is a suite of secure, robust and flexible digital platforms that support Choice Housing’s wider digital ambitions. Beyond the initial delivery, the foundations are in place for ongoing refinement - whether that is improving UX through data-led insights, launching new digital campaigns, or extending functionality through further .NET-based application development.
By combining strong technical delivery with creative digital design, UX expertise and a deep understanding of regulated environments, Codiance continues to support Choice Housing in evolving their digital presence in line with user needs and organisational priorities.
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