Housing associations

It is an inconvenient truth, but some developers do not want or like to build affordable homes. Many claim they will suffer from significantly reduced profit margins – taking their earnings below 20% - and this is the prime excuse given at the planning stage to try and avoid the issue, according to Global, the country’s fastest growing supplier of home warranties – but says the company - it does not have to be like that.
Most developers do not have a choice and planners will insist that they will have to include some element of affordable properties into the mix, but with the pressure on margins it is inevitable that some will cut corners and deliver poor quality. This in turn can put even more of a strain on margins – a situation, claims Global, that could be avoided by getting it right first time.
Current planning conditions state that developers building between five and nine homes must ensure 20 per cent of them are affordable - more than nine, then this figure rises to 30 per cent. That figure can further rise to 40 per cent for greenfield sites.

Managing a portfolio of projects in the housing sector is a skilled juggling act. With so many different targets to hit, competing priorities and limited resources, focus need to be on high impact items. How do you plan and sequence your portfolio to deliver maximum value?
Overwhelmingly, 97% of organisations believe that project management is critical to business performance and organisational success, according to a PwC study. Yet delivering a portfolio of projects successfully is never straight forward and around 70% of projects fail, according to PMI.  

There has never been a sharper focus on how we heat and power our buildings. With fuel prices soaring and deadlines for energy-efficiency improvements fast approaching, housing developers and social landlords are at the forefront of the challenge to decarbonise our homes, both new and existing. It’s with this in mind that the elemental content theatres, which are free-to-attend and running alongside InstallerSHOW at Birmingam’s NEC in June, have been put together.
Designed for an audience of social housing and built environment professionals, the three-day conference programme will feature thought-provoking discussion and an opportunity to learn about the key issues facing the industry when it comes to energy and heat.

http://www.installershow.com

Housing associations under pressure to make budgets work harder and ensure tenant satisfaction with the properties they provide and maintain, should consider the installation, performance, sustainability, aesthetic, and cost benefits of low maintenance PVC-U solutions for both exterior and internal living spaces. Hazel Verschuere, building products director from Deeplas explains more.

With over 1500 housing associations in operation in the UK, responsible for two million homes that provide safe and secure living spaces for five million people*, the importance of the role of housing associations cannot be underestimated.

Housing associations face two highly important retrofit challenges. One is to bring about the decarbonisation of the UK’s social housing stock as part of the battle against climate change, the other is to make their homes more energy efficient and, thus, more affordable for residents. Stewart Little, CEO of IRT Surveys, explains how social housing associations can make smart retrofit decisions to guide them on their path to decarbonisation and energy efficiency.

There are two forces driving energy efficiency within social housing. The most pressing is climate change. With the Climate Clock  predicting that, at the current rate of emissions, the 1.5°C rise in temperature will be surpassed in 2032, there is an existential need to make the UK’s housing stock more sustainable. If this is not achieved by 2050, it is predicted that housing will be responsible for 95% of the UK’s built-environment emissions.

Affordable housing providers can face a difficult task when it comes to procurement. Regulatory and financial restraints mean that most are more mindful of budgets than ever before. Meanwhile, shifting consumer behaviour, not to mention smaller homes, mean that providers are working harder to plan a practical, affordable and design-led bathroom space. Here, Daniel Fairfield, Product Manager, from Twyford Bathrooms offers some advice.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, the number of people with dementia is steadily increasing and careful planning is required to manage their care and support. One in every 14 people aged over 65, and one in six aged over 80 struggles with the condition. Here, Stuart Reynolds, Head of Product and Marketing at AKW, a leading provider of accessible home solutions, discusses the launch of a new guide that will help housing associations create more dementia-friendly bathrooms.