Housing associations

With Blacktex sheet vinyl floors from Beauflor®, affordable housing refurbishments can benefit from a floor that’s fast to install, durable and comfortable in use.

The BBC has reported that anti-poverty campaigners are calling for housing associations to stop ripping out carpets and leaving tenants with bare floors. The report also recorded that there is a number of forward thinking organisations looking for a solution to the crisis. Finding a floor that’s affordable, fast to install, durable and comfort in use is paramount in the hunt for answers.

We Are Digitial, the UK’s only Wel-Tech business that helps people in need connect with local welfare services with a one-stop-shop platform, has raised £5.5m to expand their services to further help local authorities and Housing Associations save money as well as their residents access the services they need.

The tech for good company is used in a variety of ways by central Government, local housing associations and corporate businesses from Lloyds Banking Group and Santander to Vodafone and Openreach to help people find jobs, learn digital skills, understand their finances, fill out government forms and receive advice around grants or the cost of living crisis.

by Ollie Gray, business development director, Charis

When the EPG Energy Price Guarantee was introduced last autumn by the flash-in-a-pan Liz Truss government, it was set to run for two years, from October 2022 to September 2024.

We all know what happened to Liz - and her EPG promise was also cut short (maybe not quite as short as her tenure in number 10).

Looking back over the winter months of 2022/23, most of the funds and grants allocated to households to help them with rising energy costs have been akin to trying to stop leaking water from a pipe with a roll of tissue. Many households quickly achieved saturation when it came to what they could afford. Although, in part, this was due to the fact that energy prices increased beyond the additional support that was offered, it was also down to the fact that inflation was peaking at over 10 per cent, interest rates had shot up, and in general overall household income was squeezed on all sides, with no equivalent increase to household income.

InstallerSHOW 2023 and elemental are delighted to welcome the UK Government’s Heat Pump Ready programme as an event partner.

Heat Pump Ready is a major innovation programme funded through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) which is delivered by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The programme is supporting the development of novel solutions to transform the market for heat pumps in the UK, with many of the projects in the spotlight at InstallerSHOW from 27 to 29 June at the NEC.

Leading trade retailer ElectricalDirect has added the innovative Radbot 1 Intelligent Thermostatic Radiator Valve (TRV) from Secure to its expanding range of heating solutions. This new type of heating control has been designed to optimise energy usage which is an ideal solution for those looking to reduce their energy bills in the cost of living crisis.

The easy-to-fit device, now available at ElectricalDirect, can be installed within minutes on any radiator that has an existing thermostatic radiator valve. It is compatible with wet central heating systems, including gas, oil boilers and heat pumps, and works with all standard heating controls and smart thermostats.

The challenges and opportunities of improving heat network performance to support residents will be explored at a free conference in central Manchester on Thursday 8th June 2023.

Hosted by heat network specialist Switch2 Energy, the event will explore solutions to three major challenges facing the industry. These are how to reduce operating costs and residents’ energy bills; how to reduce carbon emissions, and how to comply with tougher new regulation.

InstallerSHOW returns to the NEC in June, with three days of content in the elemental theatres focusing on the crucial topics of heating and powering our buildings while cutting carbon.

We welcomed 10,000 visitors in 2022 and the 2023 show will be our biggest – and best – yet, with added content streams, features and opportunities to share knowledge and ideas about the route to net zero.