Housing associations

National Social Housing Safety and Compliance Week  is calling for the whole social housing supply chain to unite behind ‘Together for Safety’, a new movement to improve resident safety.

The Week, spearheaded by the Association of Safety and Compliance Professionals (ASCP), is an annual event dedicated to shining a spotlight on safety and compliance at an operational, strategic, and cultural level. It also supports Dame Judith Hackitt’s calls to act faster and address safety cultural issues in the sector. And with the advent of The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, the ASCP believes that the Week also has a role in helping to redefine the standards of social housing in the UK. Now in its third year, the campaign will launch a new movement ‘Together for Safety’. This movement recognises that no one person or department, or organisation can deliver safe homes for residents – it involves the whole supply chain coming together.

If our water usage patterns don’t change, the UK will have an ongoing water deficit of 4,000 Megalitres per day by 2050.  Reductions in leakage and domestic consumption are the two primary strands of water conservation targeted by Defra and the water companies.  

Some areas of England are already restricting future development unless ‘water neutrality’ can be demonstrated. This requires both existing and new properties to reduce per capita consumption (PCC) to the extent that overall water usage levels do not increase. 

With legislation changing all the time, specifying the right products is essential to meet the correct standards. We spoke with Howard Trotter, business manager of window and fire door manufacturer Shelforce, to find out what housing associations must look out for when specifying windows and doors and how Shelforce can help provide the right products for the right value.

When concealing external pipework, building services and other utilities associated with low carbon district heating schemes or air-source and ground-source heat pumps, Pendock metal pipe boxing range provides protection against accidental damage or tampering, while helping improve the project’s aesthetics.

At Charis, a surge in users of its online Charis Shop which was launched in 2020 has led to an explosion in business growth. CEO Graham Ayres explains how the company is harnessing the impact of their new platform to help housing providers deliver hardship support rapidly and efficiently.

As we enter the second part of the year, we invite Ellie Pool, Marketing Manager at leading composite door manufacturer, DoorCo, to share the latest entrance door trends. From styles to colours to glass, Ellie shares the insights of what the sector is expecting to see over the next few months.

DoorCo is the brand behind 10’s of 1000’s of composite doors residing in social housing homes across the UK, delivered via a network of expert fabricators and installers. Collaboratively, we have been delivering on large partnering and framework agreements with many RSLs for over a decade. Our aim is to provide a robust supply chain of the best doors for residents in term of stability, security and aesthetics.  As we press forward into the second half of the year, we’re presented with the perfect time to take stock of what has been trending throughout 2023 so far and use this knowledge to help us predict what is going to be big for the remainder of the year.

Often residents do not understand the importance of correct ventilation in the properties, and without realising it they can even create the poor air quality in their own dwelling, and the higher relative humidity levels, which may ultimately lead to mould growth.

Some may even tape up ventilation grills as they don’t like to “feel the cold” especially as they perceive this wastes energy they are paying for.