social housing

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.

Designing and constructing future-proof social houses, which will serve their occupants for years to come and will not cause issues to the building users and building owners is paramount. Even with the most innovative design, the building is as good as the materials used in its construction, with roofs demanding special attention from architects and builders alike.

Ventilation industry leader Vent-Axia is celebrating Global Recycling Day, which takes place on 18 March 2023, by showing its commitment to expanding its range of recycled plastic ventilation products and meeting its environmental targets. Vent-Axia is leading the way in the ventilation sector with a market transformation to manufacturing from recycled material to improve indoor air sustainably. This includes its award-winning Lo-Carbon Multivent MEV range which literally broke the mould as the first MEV to be made from recycled plastic. This has now expanded to a wide range of products including its Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) units and Mixed Flow In-Line fans, helping customers in a wider range of sectors make more sustainable choices.

Window and door manufacturer Shelforce won the ‘Most Significant Service Improvement’ award at the first ever Housing Awards.
City Housing, part of Birmingham City Council, launched the awards as part of its commitment to culture change and to acknowledge the hard work, successes and achievements of staff and businesses involved in social housing in Birmingham.

Vent-Axia, the leader in low carbon ventilation, has launched its Net Zero Retrofit Solution to help social housing providers meet carbon targets. The range has been specifically developed to provide increased ventilation whilst minimising unnecessary heat loss through heat recovery technology. The UK is committed to meet Net Zero targets by 2050. This sets a tough challenge for social housing providers to improve their energy efficiency and so lower the carbon emissions in their properties, without detrimentally affecting the indoor air quality (IAQ) in their homes. Increasing airtightness in homes to improve energy efficiency can create areas where moisture condenses, leading to mould growth which blights many homes across the UK.

Social landlords turning to timber to reducing carbon and improving building performance  

High performance timber windows and doors manufacturer, NorDan UK Ltd, has announced a record 34 percent increase in turnover for a single year in 2022.

This has included significant growth in the UK social housing market, with social landlords increasing their purchase of NorDan products by 11 percent.

Mainstream media has been buzzing these last few weeks with stories about households being forced onto prepayment meters because they have been unable to pay their bills. British Gas has come under particular fire due to employing bailiffs who have allegedly used threatening behaviour to enter people’s properties and install prepaid meters.

This has generated a lot of negative reactions - and understandably so. People are being expected to find sometimes hundreds more pounds a month from incomes that have not increased in line with inflation, to cover household bills and everyday shopping essentials, the costs of which are spiralling out of control.