With years of experience working with RSLs we offer a range of services to Housing Associations and other social housing providers.

The UK Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into effect in December 1995 and brought in measures to prevent discrimination against disabled people. Under Part III of the Act, where a service provider offers services to the public, that provider has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to make these services available to disabled people. From October 2004, you have had to ensure that the physical features of your premises are accessible to disabled people.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the new risk assessment procedure for residential properties. Public sector landlords will need to incorporate HHSRS into their stock condition surveys. All homes in the social sector should be free of category 1 hazards.
Before embarking on a programme of work, housing managers should carefully consider whether there are any category 1 hazards that need to be included in the refurbishment works. Thus housing associations, councils, and the like, will need to assess hazards and risks in their housing stock. The EnergyCube HHSRS survey is fully in line with the ODPM guidance and is conducted by fully trained surveyors.

In order to ascertain the general condition of UK homes and the proportion of those in poor condition, the government expects all public sector landlords to carry out Stock Condition Surveys. This survey should be conducted every few years, so that housing managers maintain an accurate account of the condition of the stock.
EnergyCube will work with your current stock condition database or indeed set up a system from scratch. Unless your stock is particularly small in size it is likely that a sample survey will be undertaken. Sampling will reduce both the cost and duration of the survey whilst the accuracy of the survey may not be adversely affected.

Case Studies 1 - A Residential Social Landlord (RSL)

Was challenged with the task of producing their five-yearly stock condition assessments along with the need to carry out decent home surveys, health and safety inspections and energy assessments to a percentage of their properties and within a limited time frame.

Given the challenges faced, an agreed proposal was developed enabling several of the surveys to be done concurrently, utilising existing stock data wherever possible. This greatly reduced costs to the association.

Case Studies 2 - A Residential Social Landlord (RSL)

Responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of a former 18th century hospital now converted into individual living units. EnergyCube commissioned a report detailing the improvements necessary to improve occupants’ living conditions. Due to the age and design of the building, a number of environmental issues were spotted that if left unattended would result in a serious health and safety risk.

EnergyCube conducted an overall appraisal of the building structure and surrounding grounds, identifying where specialist skills were necessary for remediation work – e.g. areas of damp, ventilation, and flooring etc. Our findings and recommendations were compiled into a report. Using the information gathered, the association was able to obtain the necessary funding to undertake the recommended work.