Housing associations

In episode 19 of Aico TV, our Regional Specification Manager David Cunningham speaks with Veritas Fire Support Services, we explore Cornerstone Housing’s experience with our Ei1000G SmartLINK Gateway and the episode concludes with a presentation on Systemic Building Safety with Orbit Group.

Since Grenfell, fire safety in flats has been in the spotlight. The Stay Put policy has been scrutinised and reviewed, fire doors replaced, and the Wake Watch introduced, all with the aim of ensuring that flat buildings are compliant and safe for tenants to live in.

However, fire safety compliance isn’t always easy to coordinate. Especially if you are in control of multiple buildings, which is a highly likely scenario.

We kick off this weeks episode with our Regional Specification Managers Paul Barret and Steve Bulley discussing RF. The pair walk through the evolution of the technology, where the future of RF lies and are also joined by Paul Waterman from Charge Electrical Contractors to discuss his experiences with Aico’s RF devices.

Our Regional Specification Manager Alex Parker sits down with Paul Merrifield, Senior Learning and Development Partner for Sanctuary. The pair discuss Pauls role within The Sanctuary Group, skill shortages in the sector and the values that Sanctuary and Aico share.

And finally, we re-join National Sales Manager Daniel Little for the second installment of our panel discussion on the Smart Home Healthy Home Leeds project. Daniel is again joined by Richard Bould Technical Manager for New Builds at Yorkshire Housing, Daniel Hardy Project Lead, Housing of the Future at Leeds City Council, Jess Kuznia Innovation Analyst at Yorkshire Housing and our very own Jordan Toulson Product Manager at HomeLINK. The group ends the discussion on how we can better utilise the Internet of Things to better engage with residents and how to scale the projects in the future.

Housing associations and local authorities responsible for management of housing stock, along with their specialist advisors, are to be offered advance access to the UK’s first Ventilation MOT® which has been specifically designed to establish the adequacy, or otherwise, of the ventilation measures installed in an existing home.
 
David Bly, Director of Cornerstone Professional Services (UK) Ltd, the organisation behind the Ventilation MOT®, explains why social housing providers and their advisors are being offered first adopter status, “Inadequate ventilation, or, as it’s referred to in the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act, “not enough ventilation”, can be a major contributor to condensation and mould growth in a home. If a property is a recently built one, then there’s a chance that one of the recognised ventilation systems in Approved Document F has been installed and it can be demonstrated that there is “adequate means of ventilation provided for people in the building”. It’s a completely different situation in older properties which make up the vast majority of the housing stock and that’s where the Ventilation MOT® will prove very useful to social housing landlords. As a key process in the Property MOT® platform, it will let them know where they stand in terms of ventilation adequacy and what, if anything, they need to do to get there”

We begin with a panel discussion regarding the Smart Home Healthy Home project, chaired by our National Sales Manager, Daniel Little. We have some great panellists, including Richard Bould Technical Manager at Yorkshire Housing, Daniel Hardy Project Lead, Housing of the Future at Leeds City Council, Jessica Kuznia Innovation Analyst at Yorkshire Housing, and our very own Jordan Toulson Product Manager at HomeLINK.

Next, our Operations and Learning & Development Manager, Lee Duffy, examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures taken throughout the distribution network that ensured continuity within the sector. Lee speaks to Andy Crockett Managing Director at TWC Parcel Collection Services, David Brown Managing Director at UPN, Colin Rann Operations Director at APC and Lydia Hopley, QHS&E Administrator about their experiences.

In the last segment, our Relationships Manager Tina Mistry is joined by Lord Porter of Spalding and Robert Chilton of Cratus Communications. Together, they discuss The Hackitt Report, the Golden Thread and Lord Porter’s views on the changing landscape of the sector.

We finish the episode with an FAQ delivered by our Product Development Executive, Samuel Marston, who explains how to remove a product from a SmartLINK Gateway system.

We being episode sixteen with Jane Pritchard our Community Liason talking to Helen Knight, Development Manager and Lizzy Coleman, Events and Fundraising Officer for Lingen Davies Cancer fund. Jane talks to Helen and Lizzy about the charity and its background, their experiences through the pandemic and upcoming fundraisers.

Next Andy Speake our National Technical Manager sits down with Ian Moore, Chief Executive Officer at the Fire Industry Association. Andy gets a glimpse into Ian's role within the FIA, the changing landscape of the industry and where it is heading in the future.

Finally, our Operations and Learning & Development Manager Lee Duffy, Product Development Manager Michael Wright and Alan Lewis, Founder and owner at Adrenaline Sports sit down and reflect on the EIC Race around Europe challenge. The group discuss the challenges they faced, how much they raised and look forward to Adrenalines upcoming events.

While Housing Associations have long been shifting towards a more digital way of working, the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified this further, with more housing managers embracing remote working technologies and embedding digital infrastructures and data standards into their everyday processes. But are these systems being used to their full potential? As well as providing the option to log in to a central database from any location, remote management systems can also help streamline operations and crucially, open up mutually beneficial dialogues with tenants.