social housing

In any property, whether it’s a new build or a refurbishment project, there will inevitably be exposed pipework that needs covering for reasons of safety and aesthetics, or as a deterrent from tampering, accidental damage and vandalism, particularly for exterior pipework.

For housing associations and local authorities dealing with older housing stock that requires heating system upgrades, fire sprinkler system retro-fits and regular maintenance, as part of the property management regime, large quantities of exposed pipework can present a number of challenges.

The rise in multi-generational living has necessitated a shift in how products are specified. Grandparents will often be living under the same roof as small children, and their needs, particularly from a usability and safety perspective, will differ drastically. This becomes especially pertinent when it comes to the bathroom, one of the most heavily used rooms in the home.

To take a closer look at some of the key issues associated with bathroom safety, Triton Showers teamed up with Housing Association Magazine to host a roundtable on the subject. Victoria Galligan, Editor at Housing Association, reports.

The preference from the ‘Health and Safety Executive’ is that access to high level areas are either restricted or prevented with plant placed at ground level. However, when access is required for complying with roof warrantees and also the clearing of debris with other maintenance issues, this is often impossible to achieve.
To find out the solution, Housing Association Magazine hears from SAFETYWORKS & SOLUTIONS MD Marco Norman, the UK’s leading ‘Safety at Height ’ experts...

As part of a wide scale refurbishment project from Enfield Council, Langley Structures Ltd delivered a series of Flat to Pitched (FTP) roof conversions across multiple residential premises in New Southgate. This project recently won RCI’s Pitched Roofing Awards for ‘best use of a flat to pitch system’.

The project saw the conversion applied to seven buildings located on Bowes Road, Cross Road and Massey Close in Enfield, as part of the larger ‘New Southgate’ refurbishment being carried out in the area. Approved in 2010, the New Southgate regeneration project provides quality homes, local shops and community services across the neighbourhood.

Langley Structures worked alongside Playle & Partners LLP’s, who provided lead architectural services as well as project management, contract administration, quantity surveying and principle designer roles. ENGIE, Langley Structures’ Approved Contractor, delivered the regeneration solution.

The fully-financed solar generation and smart battery storage solution will help housing associations meet their carbon reduction targets and alleviate rates of fuel poverty amongst tenants

The UK energy services company, SMS plc, has unveiled a unique new solution that aims to radically reduce carbon emissions of Britain’s social housing stock. Through Solopower, SMS is partnering with local councils and housing associations to significantly upgrade the energy performance of social accommodation, delivering solar generation, battery storage, and smart meters to landlords and their residents at zero upfront cost.

In deploying these smart home energy technologies – which are intelligently controlled and optimised by SMS’s FlexiGrid™ aggregation software – Solopower can decarbonise housing electricity by approximately 90% per home. The solution will therefore contribute to the enhancement of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings and reduce tenant electricity bills by up to 25% (approximately £200 in savings per year).

With an ageing population and only 7% of housing stock in England offering even the most basic accessibility features , there is a growing need for housing associations to offer flexible accommodation. An area that is the most challenging for those with mobility issues is the bathroom. Here Stuart Reynolds, Head of Product and Marketing at AKW, shows how housing associations can have the best of both worlds – contemporary, long-lasting bathrooms for day-to-day use and then, when needed cost-effective transitioning to accessible wet rooms.

When evaluating opportunities to cut costs in social housing refurbishment or retro-fit fire sprinkler installation in high rise blocks as part of a fire safety framework agreement, pipe boxing probably wouldn’t feature highly, yet Pendock products are helping HAs and LAs save money and time on site.

The Pendock Profiles range of specialist casings and pipe & fire sprinkler boxing has been a common feature in social housing for well over 30 years and have been used on heating system refurbishments, boiler upgrades and fire-sprinkler installations by most UK social landlords on countless projects.