social housing

Langley Structures Ltd has welcomed the updates to the Permitted Development (PD) rules that will allow increased utilisation of upward extensions to provide much needed social housing. However, Langley Structures, experts in rooftop capitalisation, warns that the quality and design of new developments and the impact on the local community must be prioritised.

The new rules allow the construction of up to two additional storeys on purpose-built, detached block of flats, subject to certain conditions. This includes that existing blocks must be three storeys or more and the extended building must not be more than 30 metres high.
   

Burst pipes are the most common cause of home insurance claims in the UK [1] and cost an average of £3,500 in damage to property and contents.  The expense is not the worst of it, months of disruption follows as the property is dried out and repaired.
Frost is the greatest threat to water services throughout the winter.  UK Water Regulations require any fitting or apparatus to be correctly insulated to prevent frost, unless in a location that is heated for more than 12 hours a day [2]. It seems obvious when you are scraping the ice from the car on a frosty morning. However, the insurance claims show that many homeowners, landlords and occupiers seem to be unaware of this requirement.

Introducing Optimum, the ultimate control & site care system, which allows you to take full control of your energy centre, plant rooms and the entire network.
Examples include full alarming to various locations, integration to access control, fire systems, CCTV, lifts and more.

Optimum is a Building Energy Management System (BEMS) that was designed in house by Enerza in order to seamlessly integrate all services into one dashboard.

Hardware and Fire Door systems specialist Winkhaus has invested extensively to ensure their Composite Fire & Security door set solution consistently proves performance and ensures compliance with all the latest requirements.
Winkhaus UKs Technical Director, Chris Flaherty, provides clarity for specifiers following a series of legislation and guidance updates covering the specification of composite fire doors.

Upon releasing the whitepaper, the government boldly claimed “we will make it easier to build better homes where people want to live.” (Let’s hold them to it!)
“New regulations will give greater freedom for buildings and land in our town centres to change use without planning permission and create new homes from the regeneration of vacant and redundant buildings.”

Titon has introduced the new FireSafe™ Air Brick – a non-combustible compact inlet/outlet grille suitable for new and refurbished houses and apartments. Designed with architects, mechanical engineers, contractors and local authorities in mind, the product is an upgrade of Titon’s (plastic) Q Plus High Flow Brick and can easily be built into external walls during construction.

Where were you when the world changed? How were you positioned? Were you standing at the beginning of a promising career or easing your way out of one? Were you struggling? Coronavirus has swept the world by storm, wrenching the floor from under us. Suspended in limbo, with time to reflect, were we really so perfect? Or were we getting things wrong? Freelance editor Joe Bradbury discusses what changes in perception could be made to better view the subjects of class and social housing: